Monday, March 10, 2008

The Pitch

Sonian seeks funding for hosted archiving service

Sonian Inc.

Headquarters: Dedham

Employees: 12

Founded: 2007

Web: www.soniannetworks.com

E-mail: george@soniannetworks.com

Phone: 800-275-8794

THE PITCH: Sonian is seeking $3 million

PITCHING THE TECHNOLOGY

Sonian is a hosted service designed to manage archiving for e-mail, instant messages, Microsoft Sharepoint, blogs, wikis and files. Sonian said it leverages "cloud compute" infrastructure from Amazon Web Services to deliver its services.

PITCHING THE PEOPLE

Who are the company's founders? Sonian was founded by George Nichols, formerly of Dialog Communications Corp., and Greg Arnette, formerly of IntelliReach Corp.

Who is on the management team? Nichols, CEO; Arnette, chief technology officer; and Jeff Richards, VP of business development.

Have executives been involved in a cashout prior to this venture? Yes. Greg Arnette was at IntelliReach when it was bought by Infocrossing Inc. in 2006, and George Nichols was at Dialog when it was bought by Golden Gate Capital in 2006.

Who is on the board of advisers? David Cancel of Compete Inc. and Lookery Inc.; and Chris Heidelberger of Nexaweb Inc.

PITCHING THE BUSINESS

How much money is being sought? Sonian is seeking $3 million to expand sales and marketing activities and to expand into Europe and the Pacific Rim.

What partnerships, collaborations or affiliations are already in place? Sonian said it expects to announce an OEM relationship soon.

Federal or state grants, contracts or awards received? None.

What's the market size being pursued? Sonian estimates its market to be $1 billion, and $8 billion by 2010.

Who are the likely competitors? Sonian competes directly with Postini Inc., MessageOne Inc. and Fortiva Inc.; indirectly with Iron Mountain Inc. and Zantaz Inc.

Is the company profitable? No.