DFJ Esprit et al. in €19.8m Qosmos round

The investors provided a mix of equity and convertible bonds. Existing backer Sofinnova Partners, which invested in the business in 2004, sold its stake to the three firms.

The fresh capital will support Qosmos' expansion in the North American and Asia-Pacific regions. It will also go towards funding product development and marketing efforts, as well as potential acquisitions.

The deal was intermediated by LBA.

Previous funding
Sofinnova initially led a €2m early-stage round for Qosmos in 2004. It then injected €3.2m in a second round of financing two years later. Finally, it was joined by Alven Capital and GFK AG for a €7m investment in 2008.

Sofinnova held 40% of Qosmos prior to the sale, which enabled it to reap a 9% IRR on its overall investment in the business.

Company
Founded in 2000, Qosmos specialises in network intelligence technology designed to analyse data traffic. Its software solutions are used by network equipment providers, software vendors and systems integrators to provide support in the fields of cyber security, lawful interception, traffic optimisation, content billing, service assurance and market research.

Qosmos has been profitable since 2009 and recorded a 40% year-on-year turnover increase in 2010 to €9.32m.

People
Krishna Visvanathan led the deal for DFJ Esprit and will join Qosmos' board. Alven and FSI were represented by Nicolas Celier and Jean d'Arthuys respectively. Olivier Sichel worked on the transaction for Sofinnova.

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