ATX Technologies, Inc., an independent telematics service provider to the automotive industry, on July 16 announced the close of a $25 million round of financing. The investment was made by Vodafone TeleCommerce, GmbH, a division of one of the world's largest mobile telecommunications companies, and a private contributor in what is expected to be the company's last round of private equity funding. With what the company describes as rapid customer growth -- approaching 20,000 new subscribers each month -- ATX says it intends to utilize a portion of the investment to fund the development of an additional telematics response center scheduled to open in 2002. ATX also aims to complete the enhancement of its system architecture to provide telematics-based customer relationship management services, real-time traffic services and third-generation, location-based emergency response services, according to Steve Millstein, ATX president and CEO. "We are very pleased that we have not only exceeded our revenue and growth forecasts for the past six quarters, but we also expect to be cash-flow positive later this year," Millstein said. "These investments are a major milestone for us as they demonstrate that we have the financial stability to meet the rapid growth in telematics and to fund the infrastructure required to accomplish our objective -- helping our automotive customers build their business and customer loyalty." Anticipating the importance for scalability in a rapidly expanding market, this investment will triple the company's current operating capacity, according to Millstein. The Vodafone investment continues a financial relationship with ATX that began last year when the company purchased an approximate 20 percent equity stake in ATX, thereby having a stake in telematics interests on both sides of the Atlantic. "ATX continues to demonstrate a sound, realistic approach to building the telematics market," said Josef Heimann, ATX board member and Vodafone TeleCommerce's director of telematics and mobile services. "We are familiar with most telematics service providers worldwide and ATX is the unquestionable leader in terms of depth of service provided to automotive customers." About ATX Technologies, Inc. ATX integrates wireless communications, database functions, and location-identification technologies to provide telematics services, such as emergency response, roadside assistance, automatic collision notification, locating critical services, stolen vehicle tracking, and convenience services such as routing assistance and navigation. ATX is also developing convenience services such as voice interactive real-time traffic, routing assistance, and Web-based information provision. ATX serves nearly 300,000 subscribers through its customers' brands, including Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar, Lincoln, and the Infiniti division of Nissan. ATX Technologies, Inc. is headquartered in Dallas-Fort Worth. The company pioneered in-vehicle and automotive aftermarket applications of telematics beginning in 1995 and in 1999 introduced telematics services in handheld wireless devices. For more information, visit www.atxtechnologies.com.