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Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Everyday Solutions gains $2.8M, adds Ford chairman to investors
By Michelle Lang
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Everyday Solutions Inc. has brought the executive chairman of Ford Motor Co. on board the bus.
William Clay Ford Jr. is among investors in a round of new equity financing the Acton maker of schoolbus GPS tracking systems quietly announced earlier this month. The amount of the investment - $2.8 million - was revealed in a regulatory filing posted last week.
“It adds a seal of approval,” president and CEO Jay Wurts said of Ford’s investment, which came through Fontinalis Partners, a Michigan private equity firm founded last year by Ford and two other partners, focused on transportation technology. “They picked us out over all the competitors in the industry.” Fontinalis is not affiliated with Ford Motor Co.
Everyday Solutions recently reached break-even, Wurts said, with revenue over $10 million and 30 percent top-line growth in 2009 over 2008. With about 30 employees total, the company is targeting a total market opportunity of 550,000 schoolbuses in the U.S. and says it has already installed its technology in 25,000 of them. The latest round of financing, which brings Everyday Solutions’ total venture investment to $16.9 million, will be the company’s last, Wurts said. It will be used to expand the company’s sales staff, he said.
“Most people thought it was impossible to sell to schools,” Wurts said. “We don’t have as much competition as you would if you were selling to the trucking industry.”
Fontinalis partner Ralph Booth will join existing investors Ascent Venture Partners and Flagship Ventures on Everyday Solutions’ board of directors, where Christopher Lynch represents Ascent, and Steve Ricci represents Flagship.
Formerly known as Everyday Wireless, Everyday Solutions makes GPS-based systems for schoolbus fleet operators designed to save money by maximizing route and schedule efficiency. The company claims it can save school districts 20 percent of fuel costs and achieve return on investment in three months.
Wurts, a former Symbolics Inc. CEO and serial entrepreneur, bought Everyday Solutions from the company’s founders and moved it to Massachusetts in 2007 from Pennsylvania, where it was founded in 2000. Customers include public school districts in Virginia Beach and Los Angeles.
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