Shmunis Vlad

Shmunis Vlad

Biography

1992: Creation of Ring Zero Systems company

In 1992 Vlad Shmunis founded Ring Zero System — software developer for corporate communications. The startup offered computer makers the application under the Windows system which performed function of the switch — received and delivered calls and voice mail. Ring Zero as a result was purchased by Motorola company.

1999: Creation of RingCentral company

In 1999 Shmunis founded RingCentral together with Vlad Vendrov who worked before as the engineer in Ring Zero and Motorola.

2019: The transaction with Avaya and assessment of a status of Shmunis in $1.3 billion

At the end of October, 2019 Avaya and RingCentral announced cooperation in which the last company invests $500 million. This transaction made the dollar billionaire of the native of Ukraine Vlad Shmunis who founded RingCentral.

According to terms of the contract, RingCentral will pay Avaya advance payment in the amount of $375 million and also will provide investments in exchange for preferred shares for $125 million. The transaction will provide RingCentral access to 100 million users of Avaya (in comparison with 2 million RingCentral) and will help to pay off a considerable debt.

The agreement also assumes what RingCentral will sell on an exclusive basis of the UCaaS-solution Avaya. Also partners agreed about start to the first quarter 2020 of a cloud platform of Avaya Cloud Office constructed on UCaaS-developments of RingCentral and Avaya technologies.

Avaya looked for several months the buyer of the company, but as a result refused to be on sale and decided to begin large-scale cooperation with RingCentral.

At the beginning of October of RingCentral when the company for the first time announced about Avaya cooperation, the share value of RingCentral grew by 28%, and market capitalization of the company exceeded $14 billion. After that the Forbes magazine made calculation Shmunis's status and estimated it at $1.3 billion. A status of his partner Vlad Vendrov, the graduate of the university in St. Petersburg, the edition estimated at $600 million^[1][2]

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