PQ BIT, a division of the PQ Africa group and sole local distributor of Tibco Software, today announced the formation of a Business-to-Business (B2B) Infrastructure Investment Fund. The fund has been formulated to promote innovation by companies developing products, markets and services related to Tibco technology and business-to-business e-commerce.
Tibco Software intends to collaborate with its technology partners and leading venture capital firms, including Cisco Systems, Reuters, Andersen Consulting, Mayfield Fund and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, to identify minority equity investment opportunities in innovative companies involved in B2B e-commerce. "As a leader in e-business real-time infrastructure software, Tibco will leverage its market penetration and advanced technologies to promote the success of portfolio companies using or supporting Tibco technology," says Wolfgang M"uller, managing director at PQ BIT. "In backing complementary B2B e-commerce companies, Tibco Software believes it will spur increased acceptance and deployment of its e-business infrastructure software."
Wolfgang goes on to say that the future of e-business depends on a robust, real-time software infrastructure. "Tibco Software plans to invest in and work closely with companies that share its vision for a totally connected, global information network that communicates in real-time."
Cisco Systems`s senior vice president of business development, Mike Volpi, says, "We believe there are several companies that could benefit from strategic investments and would further enhance our Internet infrastructure technologies."
Reuters, the world`s largest news and television agency, will play a lead role in helping identify investment opportunities and manage the Tibco B2B Infrastructure Fund. "We will work closely with TIBCO to identify and support the world`s most innovative infrastructure companies of the next generation Internet," says John Taysom, CEO at the Reuters Greenhouse Fund, which has successfully invested in 38 Internet and B2B companies.
Yogen Dalal, a Tibco Software board member and general partner in the venture capital firm Mayfield Fund, will serve as a key advisor to the Tibco B2B Infrastructure Fund. Dalal says, "There are many companies around the world that rely on Tibco`s e-business infrastructure. We will identify and invest in innovative companies that will enable B2B e-commerce, based in part, on Tibco technology."
"The Internet represents a new platform which is shaping the future of the information industry," says Vinod Khosla, partner in the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. "We will collaborate with Tibco Software to identify and nurture the most promising companies and technologies in the emerging B2B marketplace."
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PQ BIT
PQ BIT, a division of the PQ Africa group and local distributor of Tibco Software, is a leading provider of real-time infrastructure software for e-business. PQ BIT`s products and services enable computer applications and platforms to communicate efficiently across networks. The TIB/ActiveEnterprise product suite facilitates the distribution of information and integration of business processes by connecting applications to a network through patented technology called The Information Bus or TIB. TIB technology was first used to `digitise` Wall Street in the 1980s and has since been adopted in diverse industries, including manufacturing, energy, telecommunications, and electronic commerce. PQ BIT`s global client base includes Cisco, Yahoo!, NEC, 3Com, Sun Microsystems, SAP, Philips, AT&T, PageNet and AOL/Netscape. Visit the Web site on www.Tibco.com.