Fnbox

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Fnbox Ventures, Inc.
Company typePrivate
IndustryInternet
FoundedLos Angeles, California, United States (2002 (2002))
FounderRodrigo Teijeiro[1]
Headquarters,
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
  • Rodrigo Teijeiro
    (Founder & CEO)
  • Álvaro Teijeiro (CTO)
  • Gustavo Victorica (CFO)
Products
  • Recarga.com
  • Cuponica.com
  • Sonico.com
  • Phonico.com
  • TarjetasTelefonicas.com
  • Datam.com
Number of employees
85 (2012)[2]
Websitewww.fnbox.com

Fnbox Ventures, Inc. is a Latin American technology company primarily organized as a holding company that manages various online businesses.[3]

History of Fnbox[edit]

Fnbox was founded in June 2002[4] and raised $6 million investment from venture capital and private investors in 2008.[5][6] Fnbox has built a series of businesses focused on the Latin American Internet community.[7]

2002[edit]

Fnbox was founded in 2002[4] when CEO & Founder, Rodrigo Teijeiro[8] turned to internet technology to save money on calls to Argentina.[9] Rodrigo started Fnbox and his first subsidiary, TarjetasTelefonicas.com (known as Cloncom.com in the US market), with a development team located in Ukraine.[10] According to Rodrigo, five days after going live the website was selling $500 worth of VoIP minutes.

2004[edit]

However, they soon realized that this service was highly exposed to Internet fraud and decided to close down the website and focus on developing a fraud protection system. After two years, with a fraud protection system ready to go, TarjetasTelefonicas.com was re-launched.[citation needed]

2006[edit]

In 2006, with a team of developers in place and Facebook spreading like wildfire among college campuses in the US, Fnbox decided to launch a social network customized for Latin American audiences. As an early mover in the Latin American social space, Sonico registered 4.4 million users in its first year.[11][12] Fnbox immediately raised $4.3 million[5] in financing from venture capital and angel investors and brought Sonico to Brazil, the largest consumer market in Latin America.[6]

2010[edit]

By the end of 2010 Fnbox had 75 million users across Tarjetas, Sonico and Recarga, a prepaid phone recharge platform launched that year.[13] It was time to focus on monetizing this traffic. In 2011 Fnbox bought a coupon site to offer daily deals to new and existing customers and launched an online advertising service to help businesses reach targeted audiences.[14]

2012[edit]

Moving forward, Fnbox expects to leverage traffic and regional e-commerce know-how to attract Latin America's 355 million mobile phone users,[15] 115 million registered social network users,[16][17] and $30 billion of expected online shopping for 2013.[18]

Products and services[edit]

Recarga.com[edit]

Even though the cost of prepaid service can be 10 times that of traditional service, most users in Latin America use prepaid cell phones because it "attracts clients whose incomes are frequently too erratic to make a monthly payment".[19] Recarga.com is an on-line technology platform that enables end-users to add credits to their prepaid mobile phones in Latin America and the USA.[20] To date they have processed transactions in six countries for 110,000 clients across more than 20 mobile carriers.[21]

Cuponica.com[edit]

Daily Deals reaching more than 75 million Cuponica was purchased by Fnbox in 2011.[14][22] Cupónica offers consumers daily deals with 50%+ discounts to restaurants, theatres, spas, hotels and entertainment.[23]

Sonico.com[edit]

Founded in July 2007, Sonico is a social network in Latin America that organizes people's lives online into all life categories including: private, public and professional. This social media platform allows individuals, organizations and brands to interact.[24]

Phonico.com[edit]

Fnbox's online calling card business has sold over 750 million minutes, to over 325,000 clients in 150 countries.[25]

TarjetasTelefonicas.com[edit]

Tarjetas Telefónicas is a telecommunications platform and utilizes technologies developed for long distance and mobile phones calls. Tarjetas Telefónicas has developed an in-house fraud control system that process over 80% of all orders automatically (more than 30,000 monthly e-commerce transactions) with lower-than-industry charge-back levels. tarjetastelefonicas.com has sold over 750 million minutes since its start.[26]

Datam.com[edit]

Online advertising and lead generation Datam generated 3.3 million qualified in their first four months. In June 2010 Fnbox launched Datam.[27]

Management[edit]

Key management personnel comprise Rodrigo Teijeiro (Founder and CEO), Álvaro Teijeiro (Co-founder and CTO), and Gustavo Victorica (CFO).[28] As of September 2012, Fnbox has over 90 employees, and offices in 4 countries.

Offices[edit]

According to Fnbox's website, they currently have offices in the following locations:[29]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Elena Zafra. "Tecnología y marketing para convertir start-ups en negocios globales" (in Spanish). MIT (TechnologyReview). Archived from the original on October 21, 2012. Retrieved October 15, 2012.
  2. ^ PRNewswire. "Latin American E-Commerce Leader Fnbox Chooses Adyen's Payments Platform To Facilitate Global Expansion". PR Newswire. Retrieved September 12, 2012.
  3. ^ Fnbox. "Fnbox Online Adventures". Fnbox. Retrieved September 12, 2012.
  4. ^ a b Businessweek (September 18, 2011). "Company Overview of fnbox Ventures Inc". Bloomberg Businessweek. Archived from the original on January 18, 2013. Retrieved September 18, 2011. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  5. ^ a b Mark Hendrickson (June 3, 2008). "Latin American Social Network Sonico Raises $4.3 Million". TechCrunch. Retrieved September 12, 2012.
  6. ^ a b PRNewswire (December 16, 2008). "Sonico Receives $1.7 Million in Additional Investment and Closes a Year of Significant Achievements". PR Newswire. Retrieved September 12, 2012.
  7. ^ Fnbox. "Our products". Fnbox Ventures, Inc. Archived from the original on September 14, 2012. Retrieved September 13, 2012.
  8. ^ Casas, Ximena. "Desde la venta de tarjetas telefónicas hasta una red social". www.cronista.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 2021-08-21.
  9. ^ Menorca Tech Talk. "Rodrigo Teijeiro, founder of Fnbox". Menorca Tech Talk. Retrieved September 12, 2012.
  10. ^ Soft Industry. "Our clients and cooperation partners". Soft Industry. Archived from the original on September 22, 2012. Retrieved September 12, 2012.
  11. ^ Duncan Riley (February 16, 2008). "Sonico: The Biggest Social Networking Site You've Probably Never Heard Of". TechCrunch. Retrieved September 12, 2012.
  12. ^ "Sonico, otra red social hispana para conocer y hacer amigos". Genbeta (in Spanish). 2007-08-10. Retrieved 2021-08-21.
  13. ^ PRWeb (August 30, 2012). "FnBox Partners with Tech Heavyweights to Launch Latin American Startup Challenge @ TechCrunch Disrupt SF". Yahoo! News. Retrieved September 12, 2012.
  14. ^ a b Invest IQ (October 17, 2011). "DN Capital portfolio company Fnbox acquires Cuponica". Invest IQ. Retrieved September 12, 2012.
  15. ^ "Latin America leads Global Mobile Growth". World Bank. July 18, 2012. Retrieved September 13, 2012.
  16. ^ Nina Frazier (June 22, 2012). "What Does Social Media Look Like in Latin America?". Mashable Social Media. Retrieved September 13, 2012.
  17. ^ Alexander Lund (June 27, 2012). "Latin America has the most engaged social network users". Econsultancy Digital Marketers United. Retrieved September 13, 2012.
  18. ^ Roberta Prescott (December 29, 2011). "Online shopping booming in Latin America, survey finds". RCRWireless. Retrieved September 13, 2012.
  19. ^ Brian Ellsworth (May 26, 2004). "In Latin America, a Cellular Need". The New York Times. Retrieved September 12, 2012.
  20. ^ "Acerca de Recarga.com" (in Spanish). Recarga.com. Archived from the original on February 1, 2013. Retrieved September 13, 2012.
  21. ^ redOrbit (August 21, 2012). "Latin American E-Commerce Leader Fnbox Chooses Adyen's Payments Platform To Facilitate Global Expansion". redOrbit. Retrieved September 12, 2012.
  22. ^ "Argentina: Fnbox Acquires Cupónica -". www.portada-online.com. 2011-10-08. Retrieved 2021-08-21.
  23. ^ Cupónica. "Sobre Cupónica" (in Spanish). Cuponica.com. Retrieved September 12, 2012.
  24. ^ "About Sonico". Sonico.com. Retrieved September 13, 2012.
  25. ^ "Phonico.com". Phonico.com. Retrieved September 13, 2012.
  26. ^ "Acerca de TarjetasTelefonicas.com". TarjetasTelefonicas.com. Retrieved September 13, 2012.
  27. ^ "The Marketplace for Leads". Datam.com. Retrieved September 13, 2012.
  28. ^ "Our team". Fnbox Ventures, Inc. Archived from the original on January 25, 2013. Retrieved September 13, 2012.
  29. ^ "Our Offices". Fnbox.com. Retrieved September 13, 2012.

External links[edit]