Wheelings & Dealings: Aastra Buys Chunk of European Cloud

Aastra Technologies Limited wants a bigger puff of the European cloud and so the company’s European subsidiary bought Nordic-based Telepo Ltd. to help it do so. Telepo is all about delivering cloud-based, multi-tenant services aimed at enterprise communications.

Aastra, launched in 1983 in Ontario, is already global thanks to its presence in over 100 countries and over 50 million lines installed worldwide.

“Aastra is entirely dedicated to enterprise communications and offers one of the most complete portfolios of unified communications solutions individually tailored to satisfy its customers’ requirements. These range from feature-rich call managers for small and medium businesses and highly scalable ones for large enterprises, associated UC applications, integrated mobility, multimedia call center solutions and high definition video communications to a wide selection of desk phones and cordless terminals. With a strong focus on open standards, our mission is to enable our customers to communicate effectively, collaborate efficiently, and manage change with agility,” the company said.

The Telepo Tale

Telepo, meanwhile, is based in Stockholm, Sweden. The nearly ten-year-old company “offers carrier-grade, cloud-based, multi-tenant Unified Communication (UC) solutions. Telepo's solution is based on a web-centric architecture which is highly scalable, flexible and offers best-in-class mobile integration, including the full range of standard voice, PBX and call center features with fully-integrated security and pre-built web based portals for multiple tiers of administrators,” the company said.

Financial backers include Accel Partners, Investor Growth Capital and Kreos Capital.

Telepo reports that its momentum is strong, particularly last year. “Telepo gained traction in 2013, with over 40 percent growth in active users as compared to 2012. Telepo ended the year with over 90,000 active users and became profitable as a result of its continued focus on developing its innovative multi-tenant solution addressing the requirements of its service providers and their enterprise customers,” the company said.

 “Telepo now provides its UC solution through 16 service providers, including the two largest telecom operators in Sweden. Aastra will leverage Telepo's solution and growth opportunities to enhance its offerings for the European market, now enabling its customers to decide whether they wish to implement market leading premised-based, virtualized or multi-tenant cloud-based solutions depending on their particular needs.”