A BRITISH firm that converts mobile-phone voicemails into text messages is looking to raise more than £30m to accelerate its international expansion, and may consider a flotation, writes Paul Durman.

Christina Domecq, who launched Spinvox in October 2004, is also talking to potential private-equity backers. “We will be making a decision in the next month,” she said.

A £30m cash injection would be a very substantial investment for an early-stage company such as Spinvox. It is not clear what valuation Domecq is seeking to place on her business, but it is likely to be much higher than when Carphone Warehouse bought a 17% stake only a few months ago. According to one source, Carphone Warehouse paid £4m for its stake, which would have valued Spinvox at about £24m.

With Carphone Warehouse’s help, Spinvox has worked to secure deals with network operators. Vodafone is expected to incorporate Spinvox into its new voicemail system, and O2 is also thought to be planning to use the service for its business customers.

Domecq, a member of the Spanish sherry family, said Spinvox was also working with the American mobile operators Cingular and Verizon Wireless.

“This business has the ability to create a new revenue stream for operators,” she said. “Being able to align our funding strategy with our business strategy, which is global, is very important.”

Spinvox appeals to busy executives who can receive their messages as texts without having to call their voicemail service, or struggle to write down numbers while on the move.

Crucially, Spinvox’s 100,000 customers are on average spending 12% more on their mobile phones than before they used the service. It appears to encourage them to make more calls and send more texts.

This is attractive to the mobile-phone companies, which are desperate to increase their revenues in the face of increasing competition and falling prices.

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