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RadioMail Corp., a wireless electronic mail (E-mail) and information service, recently navigated through the land of private funding to secure $3 million from Schaumburg, Ill.-based Motorola Inc. and Copenhagen, Denmark-based 2M Invest. With their investment, the two companies hold a minority share in RadioMail. This initial round of private funding marks RadioMail's first try at securing outside financing and, until the company approached Motorola and 2M Invest, the process was not a pleasant experience.

"We tried for at least nine months to secure financing through the venture capitalist community but were unsuccessful because they did not understand RadioMail's service," said Geoff Goodfellow, RadioMail Corp. chairman. The venture capitalists RadioMail encountered were not high-tech, Goodfellow told MOBILE PHONE NEWS Senior Editor Andrea Knotts Bona. The venture capitalists used cellular phones but had not entered the computer age and could not fathom the company's wireless E-mail service, Goodfellow continued.

"[Dealing with the venture capitalist] was very frustrating, and we failed. However, we turned [the situation] around by securing Motorola and 2M Invest as investors," said Goodfellow. "Motorola's track record in wireless communications technology products and services makes it an ideal investment partner for RadioMail. And 2M Invest with its extensive global marketing experience will provide an invaluable contribution as we expand our business beyond the United States." Previously, the business was funded through its operating cash flows. Growth was dependent on revenue growth, which restricted rapid growth. With the additional financing, RadioMail can proceed with a more advanced marketing plan to build its subscriber base aggressively.

...RadioMail Delivers Information to Portable Computing Devices

Goodfellow established Anterior Technologies information service bureau in 1988 to provide E-mail and information to intelligent portable computing devices equipped with radio modems. The company's name was changed in September 1992 to reflect the company's service offering. RadioMail's system, based on a distributed computer architecture, can be expanded on an as-needed basis. "We paint on one level of veneer at a time," Goodfellow said. "The architecture is based on demand, thus the service and network increases together."

Via an assigned Radio Mailbox in RadioMail's computer center, subscribers can send and receive messages via a wide range of public and private networks including corporate mail systems such as Lotus Mail; MCI Mail; ATT Mail and Compuserve and public two-way wireless network such as ARDIS and RAM Mobile Data. RadioMail provides subscribers with access between incompatible networks. It literally provides an electronic mailbox service for its subscribers.