Former Motorola Inc. CEO Edward Zander is backing a small Chicago videoconferencing software company.
Zander recently joined the board of Integrated Communications Inc., or Iocom, and made an undisclosed investment.
The company, founded a decade ago by an ex-Motorola executive who left several years before Zander became CEO in 2004, sells software used by corporations to allow people in different locations to communicate by video and/or audio and share data and documents in real time.
The Web-based technology is cheaper than proprietary software, according to co-founder Mike Galich, who says he was introduced to Zander earlier this year by another Iocom board member. The company has 425 large corporate and government clients, is profitable and approaching $10 million in revenue, Galich said.
“I think they’re onto something significant,” Zander said.
He stepped down as Motorola CEO a year ago as its cellphone business was losing money and activist shareholder Carl Icahn was pushing for a breakup of the company.
Zander, who is involved with several companies in various locations, says he still spends some time in Chicago but became involved with Iocom by coincidence. “Having a connection to Chicago is always nice.”
John Pletzis a reporter for Crain’s Chicago Business, a sister publication to RCR Wireless News. Both publications are owned by Crain Communications Inc.
