Bryan, Garnier & Co successfully raised a EUR 10.5 million Private Placement for Telisma, an editor of speech recognition software

Paris – September 6th, 2002 – Bryan, Garnier & Co, a pan-European, independent investment bank focusing on European growth companies, announced today that it has successfully completed a EUR 10.5 million private placement for Telisma, a Paris-based developer of highly scalable automatic speech recognition software targeted at telecommunications service providers. The round was led by French venture capital company Ventech. Other investors participating in the funding round include existing investors 3i, AGF Innovation, FTTI, Innovacom and Thomson Multimedia.

Created in August 2000 as a spin-off of France Telecom’s Research and Development Laboratory, Telisma manufactures automatic speech recognition software and development tools that help its customers design, develop and deploy speech-enabled applications. Helped by the proliferation of mobile devices and the drive to reduce costs by eliminating human operators in call centres, speech recognition has become a key enabling technology for telecommunications service providers, allowing these service providers to offer their customers a common voice interface to a multiplicity of value-added services. Telisma in the only speech recognition company to offer software that is specifically designed for the needs of large scale deployments and noisy environments.

Their innovative pricing model significantly lowers the cost barrier to entry by tying pricing to real-world conditions rather than to theoretical peak usage, whilst the product architecture and code efficiency ensures optimal use of precious hardware resources. Telisma has successfully built an international installed base of blue chip clients, recently opening offices in Spain and Italy in order to service a growing European market.
Laurent Balaine, CEO of Telisma commented on the fund raising, saying “This fund raising gives Telisma the means to expand our reach to targeted international markets, while simultaneously giving us the resources necessary to invest in R&D in order to ensure that our product remains faithful to our customers’ evolving needs.”

Grégoire Revenu, a Bryan, Garnier & Co Corporate Finance Managing Director, commenting on the successful private placement of shares in a telecoms focused company, said, “In spite of the economic slowdown that is affecting the venture capital industry, the software industry and telecommunications operators in particular, we have succeeded in attracting in an investor of renown, together with the resources necessary to help accelerate Telisma’s penetration of the international market. Bryan, Garnier & Co will continue to support the company in its development strategy, in accordance with our long-term commitment to our clients.”

This placement illustrates Bryan, Garnier & Co’s unique value proposition and success in bringing together best of breed technology companies and brand-name international venture capitalists in order to support technology growth companies in Europe. Bryan, Garnier & Co has succeeded in developing this know-how through a team that blends experienced investment bankers, former venture capitalists and successful entrepreneurs.

About Telismax

Telisma (www.telisma.com) manufactures speech processing software and development tools that help its customers design, develop and deploy speech applications for the telecommunications and enterprise markets. Telisma’s software is specifically designed for massive deployments, heavy loads and noisy environments. Its new and innovative pricing model significantly lowers the entry costs of speech technology, while the product architecture and code efficiency leverages hardware investments. The company is headquartered in Paris, with offices in Spain and Italia.