Emerging global technology provider of cloud-based voice trading communication solutions, Cloud9, which raised a series A round from a consortium of investors including major banks and brokerages earlier this year, shares with Finance Magnates its current developments.

Finance Magnates reported in mid-April when Cloud9 raised funding from investors such as J.P. Morgan, ICAP, and Barclays, and others, as part of its latest round to help expand its product scope into other asset classes.

Recent growth and deals

Since last year, the company’s daily active users have grown by over 350%, as defined by the number of people that log on daily to Cloud9’s products. The firm also secured partnerships with several large companies, including the world’s fourth biggest energy firm PetroChina with full turret replacements for its US offices.

Cloud9 is headquartered in New York, and has offices in London, and offers its C9 cloud-based virtual turret solution as a replacement for traditionally-bulky legacy turret hardware - which it is helping firms swap-out for a digital solution. Turrets are used by banks and brokerages with medium-to-large trading desks or other operations where having an integrated communications system is imperative for operations including executing voice-brokered transactions.

On 16 occasions, the company had made full replacements of legacy turret systems for clients with its Cloud9 platform, as explained by people familiar. The company’s communication products which focus around voice solutions for both financial services companies and other industries had over 110,000 calls made per day on average over the last month, as shared with Finance Magnates by a company spokesperson.

Firms like Petrochina find value in Cloud9 because they have access to a large community of counterparties via our global directory.

Voice broking through  Brexit  Brexit Brexit stands for British Exit, or in reference to the United Kingdom’s decision to formally leave the European Union (EU) as declared in a June 23, 2016 referendum. In a more immediate sense, a tight vote and unexpected result helped drive British pound (GBP) to lows that had not been seen in decades. The day following the referendum, former Prime Minister David Cameron resigned from office where he was replaced by Theresa May, who later resigned from office on June 7th, 2019. Active Prime Minister Boris Johnson was elected Prime Minister the following month, who was well-known as a headstrong Brexit supporter.  While the United Kingdom was predicted to leave exit the EU by October 31st, 2019, the U.K. Parliament sought out a deadline extension that delayed voting on the new deal.  Following Boris Johnson’s reelection, Brexit occurred on January 31st, 2020 at 11 pm Greenwich Mean Time.  Brexit Creating Ongoing Issues in with Europe While the United Kingdom is in a transition period following its departure from the EU, the U.K. is negotiating its complete trade relationship with the EU, which is the United Kingdom’s largest trade partner. Terms of this trade agreement must be met by January 1st, 2021. Should terms of this trade agreement take longer than the projected resolution date of January 1st, 2021 then the U.K. must acquire an extension no later than June 1st, 2020. Failure to do so will result in the U.K. is subject to tariff and host rule changes exercised by the E.U. This situation is referred to as the “no-deal” Brexit and should this occur the consequences could result in a significant fallout of the U.K. economy.  For the past few years, many banks and lenders operating previously in the UK had been given passporting rights to the European continent. The lingering uncertainty caused by Brexit resulted in many of these lenders relocating their European headquarters within continental Europe. Brexit stands for British Exit, or in reference to the United Kingdom’s decision to formally leave the European Union (EU) as declared in a June 23, 2016 referendum. In a more immediate sense, a tight vote and unexpected result helped drive British pound (GBP) to lows that had not been seen in decades. The day following the referendum, former Prime Minister David Cameron resigned from office where he was replaced by Theresa May, who later resigned from office on June 7th, 2019. Active Prime Minister Boris Johnson was elected Prime Minister the following month, who was well-known as a headstrong Brexit supporter.  While the United Kingdom was predicted to leave exit the EU by October 31st, 2019, the U.K. Parliament sought out a deadline extension that delayed voting on the new deal.  Following Boris Johnson’s reelection, Brexit occurred on January 31st, 2020 at 11 pm Greenwich Mean Time.  Brexit Creating Ongoing Issues in with Europe While the United Kingdom is in a transition period following its departure from the EU, the U.K. is negotiating its complete trade relationship with the EU, which is the United Kingdom’s largest trade partner. Terms of this trade agreement must be met by January 1st, 2021. Should terms of this trade agreement take longer than the projected resolution date of January 1st, 2021 then the U.K. must acquire an extension no later than June 1st, 2020. Failure to do so will result in the U.K. is subject to tariff and host rule changes exercised by the E.U. This situation is referred to as the “no-deal” Brexit and should this occur the consequences could result in a significant fallout of the U.K. economy.  For the past few years, many banks and lenders operating previously in the UK had been given passporting rights to the European continent. The lingering uncertainty caused by Brexit resulted in many of these lenders relocating their European headquarters within continental Europe. Read this Term

In response to questions related to the recent  Volatility  Volatility In finance, volatility refers to the amount of change in the rate of a financial instrument, such as commodities, currencies, stocks, over a given time period. Essentially, volatility describes the nature of an instrument’s fluctuation; a highly volatile security equates to large fluctuations in price, and a low volatile security equates to timid fluctuations in price. Volatility is an important statistical indicator used by financial traders to assist them in developing trading systems. Traders can be successful in both low and high volatile environments, but the strategies employed are often different depending upon volatility. Why Too Much Volatility is a ProblemIn the FX space, lower volatile currency pairs offer less surprises, and are suited to position traders.High volatile pairs are attractive for many day traders, due to quick and strong movements, offering the potential for higher profits, although the risk associated with such volatile pairs are many. Overall, a look at previous volatility tells us how likely price will fluctuate in the future, although it has nothing to do with direction.All a trader can gather from this is the understanding that the probability of a volatile pair to increase or decrease an X amount in a Y period of time, is more than the probability of a non-volatile pair. Another important factor is, volatility can and does change over time, and there can be periods when even highly volatile instruments show signs of flatness, with price not really making headway in either direction. Too little volatility is just as problematic for markets as too much, we uncertainty in excess can create panic and problems of liquidity. This was evident during Black Swan events or other crisis that have historically roiled currency and equity markets. In finance, volatility refers to the amount of change in the rate of a financial instrument, such as commodities, currencies, stocks, over a given time period. Essentially, volatility describes the nature of an instrument’s fluctuation; a highly volatile security equates to large fluctuations in price, and a low volatile security equates to timid fluctuations in price. Volatility is an important statistical indicator used by financial traders to assist them in developing trading systems. Traders can be successful in both low and high volatile environments, but the strategies employed are often different depending upon volatility. Why Too Much Volatility is a ProblemIn the FX space, lower volatile currency pairs offer less surprises, and are suited to position traders.High volatile pairs are attractive for many day traders, due to quick and strong movements, offering the potential for higher profits, although the risk associated with such volatile pairs are many. Overall, a look at previous volatility tells us how likely price will fluctuate in the future, although it has nothing to do with direction.All a trader can gather from this is the understanding that the probability of a volatile pair to increase or decrease an X amount in a Y period of time, is more than the probability of a non-volatile pair. Another important factor is, volatility can and does change over time, and there can be periods when even highly volatile instruments show signs of flatness, with price not really making headway in either direction. Too little volatility is just as problematic for markets as too much, we uncertainty in excess can create panic and problems of liquidity. This was evident during Black Swan events or other crisis that have historically roiled currency and equity markets. Read this Term from Brexit the day after the UK’s EU referendum result rippled financial markets, and which caused an uptick of 20% in calls initiated on the firm’s turrets, Greg Kenepp, President of Cloud9 Technologies, shares his views:

“There is a historic precedent for increased voice activity during extreme market events. Several tier 1 banks recently sent letters to their clients saying they wouldn’t be able to execute some electronic trades due to higher volatility, and research by Greenwich Associates show that institutional investors in Europe, for example, prefer to trade by phone.”

Regarding recent deals the company landed, Mr. Kenepp explained: “Firms like Petrochina find value in Cloud9 because they have access to a large community of counterparties via our global directory. They usually hear about us through another firm they do business with, and then quickly use the Community feature to connect with, and in some cases actually expand their network of trading partners.”

When asked what the specific sales drivers were to help land the large accounts, Mr. Kenepp added: “Our initial growth has been the result of a trader or broker finding out about Cloud9 – and then telling his counterparties about us, and it has just perpetuated in that way. Cost, sound quality, and mobility have been strong drivers of adoption. Our sales team has also made strong inroads with regard to leveraging those relationships and approaching firms directly."

Mr. Kenepp concluded in true sales spirit: “Once a firm sees how easy it is to connect on Cloud9, and hears the difference in the audio quality – they are hooked.”