Proximus, VIVES II and SRIW participate in a €3 million funding round in Tessares

Proximus and VIVES II, existing shareholders of Tessares, are thereby strengthening their participation and are joined by the SRIW which is also participating. The amount raised is aimed at speeding up international growth and development of new products and services through investment in R&D.

Supporting international expansion

Since its creation in 2015, Tessares, a spin-off from the UCL University, has developed in partnership with Proximus, an innovative technology based on Multipath TCP (MPTCP). This technology makes it possible to boost Internet speed in isolated rural areas by combining the flows from the 4G/LTE mobile networks and the fixed DSL networks. By doing so, it is possible to bring users greater speed when they surf the Internet. Thanks to Tessares, close to 15,000 households in three countries now benefit from faster Internet access.

In the space of three years, Tessares has gained credibility thanks to its innovative product. Indeed, the technology it developed, along with the industrial ecosystem surrounding it, has enabled Tessares to conclude contracts with Proximus and telecom operators KPN in the Netherlands and Telia in Lithuania. Other contracts, which will allow several tens of thousands of new households to be equipped with the Tessares technology, are being finalized. In Belgium, Proximus has just completed very conclusive tests in rural areas across Wallonia and will start to deploy the technology nationally at the beginning of April. The results of the tests showed Internet speed increased to up to 15 Mbps and greater customer satisfaction.

The ambition of the company is to offer its technology to operators so that, among other things, they can comply with the EU's digital agenda, which provides that all Europeans should have Internet access of at least 30 Mbps by 2020, and half of all households should have at least 100 Mbps access.

Commitments from existing partners and a new partner

Upon its creation in 2015, the start-up based in Louvain-la-Neuve benefited from the investment of Proximus and the VIVES II - Louvain Technology Fund. Tessares already employs 28 people and is continuously looking to recruit more staff.

The funding round aims to further enhance its product and support Tessares to continue its growth and international development. Proximus and VIVES II have proposed to participate in this round and are thus strengthening their support to the Belgian start-up. The SRIW (Société Régionale d’Investissement de Wallonie) has also shown its interest in Tessares and decided to participate in this funding round.

Through its renewed commitment, Proximus underlines its willingness to promote innovation and support Belgian start-ups. In addition, the technology developed with Tessares enables Proximus customers to benefit from Internet access of considerably higher quality.

Links

• Tessares: www.tessares.net
• Vives II: www.vivesfund.com
• SRIW: www.sriw.be