$12 million deal puts Grand Rapids venture capital on the map

VoEx Inc., an Internet communications infrastructure company involved in Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services, secured a $12 million infusion of equity funding last month – one of the biggest venture capital deals to impact an existing Grand Rapids company.

“A $12 million venture capital deal in California is not much. In Grand Rapids, it’s big,” said Birgit Klohs, president of The Right Place, a local economic development agency.

In late 2004, Michael DeVries waited in California for his return flight to Grand Rapids. A partner with Ann Arbor-based EDF Ventures, DeVries flew to California in search of high-tech companies ripe for investment. By chance, Haydar Haba, chief executive officer for VoEx, was waiting for the same plane, after hunting for capital in the Golden State.

“It’s all about chance,” Haba said of the random meeting which eventually netted his company $12 million from EDF Ventures and two additional venture groups, Kennet Venture Partners and IVS. The funding will help VoEx expand its global communications services, most immediately in London, and continually improve its streamlining of IP-based voice and messaging applications.

Haba moved to Grand Rapids with his wife, a medical doctor who recently completed her residency requirements for Spectrum Health, after launching two successful companies in Florida. He launched VoEx in 2002, which now takes in some $20 million in annual revenue and employs 55 people in its local headquarters and four satellite offices (Austin, Seattle, Chicago and London).

The boost in funding will grow VoEx by nearly 20 employees and lead to a doubling of revenues by next year, Haba predicted. The corporate offices will move with Haba to San Fransisco in the near future, but the Grand Rapids office will continue to grow as a client testing and training facility and home to VoEx network operations.

Haba said Grand Rapids is a good place for VoEx, especially with the tech talent coming out of Grand Valley State University.

Source: Haydar Haba, VoEx Inc.; Michael DeVries, EDF Ventures; Birgit Klohs, The Right Place