Userful Secures First Round Funding to Grow in Enterprise AV-over-IP

Userful’s Visual Networking Platform enables IT teams to display content from any source on any screen at any time for communication and collaboration enterprise wide, improving an organization’s operating efficiency up to 80 percent, while reducing total cost of ownership (TCO) by 40 percent or more.

According to the Cisco Visual Networking Index: Forecast and Methodology, 2016–2021 report, it would take an individual more than five million years to watch the amount of video that will cross global IP networks each month in 2021. In fact, by 2021, one million minutes of new video content will cross the network each second.

“This [AV-over-IP] is a game changer for the industry and its impact cannot be overstated,” notes Anthony Brennan, Research Analyst at Futuresource Consulting. “We’re seeing the beginnings of a trend that will shake up the industry, with our forecasts pointing to a volume CAGR of nearly 50 percent during the next five years. Make no mistake, AV-over-IP will transform the way the pro AV market interacts with and controls AV systems.”

“Organizations around the world are significantly increasing their use of visual display applications to address a variety of needs from process automation and operational productivity to improved customer engagement and internal communication,” said John Marshall, CEO of Userful. “To meet these rapidly growing requirements, corporate IT departments need hybrid solutions -- on-premise software, cloud services, centralized management, integration with smart displays -- for simplified, cost-effective, flexible and globally scalable deployments that integrate complex AV applications over the IP network.”

Userful Adds Three New Board Members

In addition to the funding round, Userful has added three new prominent members to its board of directors:

Karen Willem currently serves as the Chief Financial Officer for SugarCRM, recently acquired by Accel-KKR, a leading technology-focused private equity firm. Willem is a veteran of the software/SaaS industry, with more than 25 years of experience in finance, sales and general management in both public and private companies. Her previous roles include: CFO of LILEE Systems, a leader in IoT technology; iPass, the world's largest WI-F network provider; Xsigo Systems, a leader in network virtualization technology which was sold to Oracle, and more.

John LeMoncheck has been a leader of companies and business units for more than 25 years across a wide variety of industries, including consumer electronics, wireless and wired communications, semiconductors, smart toys and human interface devices. LeMoncheck currently serves as President of Keyssa. He has previously served as CEO of startup consumer electronics technology companies SiBEAM and Cambrios. Before joining SiBEAM, LeMoncheck was Vice President of Consumer Electronics and PC/Display Products for Silicon Image, where he led the company's successful launch and commercialization of the HDMI standard.

David Edmonds is an active member of the A100 and Chair of the Accelerate Fund II’s Industry Committee. He is an active mentor of emerging entrepreneurs through the A100 and the Venture Mentoring Service of Alberta (VMSA) and the technology community initiative Rainforest Alberta. Edmonds is a founding member of six technology companies including Burntsand Inc., which grew to 10 locations across North America with more than 500 employees and $81 million in revenue. During this period, Edmonds was involved in acquiring six technology companies across North America. Burntsand traded on the TSE and ultimately was acquired by Open Text Corporation. During his career, David has raised over $40 million to support the growth of the technology firms he was involved with.

About the Accelerate Fund II

Accelerate Fund II is an early-stage angel co-investment fund in Alberta. Accelerate Fund II co-invests alongside angel investors in financing rounds and will typically invest up to $500,000 on the same terms and conditions as private investors. Accelerate Fund II works with formal angel groups, super-angels, family funds, and individual angel investors. Accelerate Fund II invests in private, early-stage Alberta companies in knowledge-based industries including: information and communications technology, clean and energy technology, as well as life sciences, including agriculture and biotech. Accelerate Fund II is managed by Yaletown Partners with support of The A100. Alberta Enterprise Corporation is Accelerate Fund II’s founding Limited Partner.