Telarus Takes First Investment Money to Fuel Growth

Utah-based master agent Telarus has received a growth equity investment led by Columbia Capital.

Columbia Capital is the growth equity firm behind Zayo, Cologix, Cloud Sherpas, Presidio and New Signature. The investment will fuel Telarus’ continued growth. The company isn’t saying exactly how much Columbia invested.

Telarus’ management team will continue to lead and maintain a majority stake in the company.

Adam Edwards is Telarus‘ CEO.

Telarus’ Adam Edwards

“Despite our spot as the No. 1 producing master, market dynamics of M&A, and the desire to provide the best experience for our partners and suppliers led us to seek capital investment,” he said. “The market is changing. This move firmly cements Telarus at the front of the pack and gives us the opportunity to provide even better support to our partners through additional hires and more tools.”

This investment will allow Telarus to execute on its vision, enhanced by Columbia’s ability to provide guidance as it grows so it can get to its destination faster, Edwards said.

“We look forward to continuing to expand our field sales presence, build out our support and engineering teams to take care of our partners, and accelerate what we’ve always done to create industry-leading tools that make our partners smarter and more efficient,” he said.

Initial Investment Funding

This is the first time Telarus has taken investment money, Edwards said.

“This additional funding will bring our partners more tools and more support from Telarus,” Edwards said. “The relationships and people who our partners enjoy working with every day are not going anywhere. Yes, we are growing, but we have been and will continue to add more staff to support our partners at all levels.”

Telarus has already added new internal partner development managers, partner support managers and commission specialists, he said.

“Our strategy remains the same — serve our partners to help them grow,” Edwards said. “This just gives us the ability to do this at lightening speed.”

“We’ve been following this space for years, and are seeing an inflection point and a massive growth opportunity in the channel,” said Evan DeCorte, principal at Columbia Capital. “Telarus’ market-leading scale and proprietary technology make it a truly unique platform in the space.”

Telarus is one of many master agents making moves to grow. For instance, master agent Telecom Consulting Group (TCG) is buying Global Systems Telecom. And AppDirect, which owns AppSmart, has secured $185 million in funds. It upped its total equity to $465 million.