Tom Gonser, founder of DocuSign at the GeekWire Summit
Tom Gonser, founder of DocuSign at the GeekWire Summit

DocuSign’s amazing appetite for capital does not appear to be waning.

The electronic signature powerhouse, with operations in Seattle and San Francisco, today announced that Deutsche Telekom has joined the company’s large list of venture capital backers.

With the money from Deutsche Telekom, DocuSign has raised more than $300 million in its series F round, bringing total capital raised to $525 million. DocuSign previously commanded a $3 billion valuation, making it one of the so-called “unicorn” companies.

docusignDeutsche Telekom will help DocuSign expand globally, something that DocuSign founder Tom Gonser said was a high priority for the company. Speaking at the GeekWire Summit last week, Gonser noted that DocuSign is spending a lot of time building out an underlying “trust network.”

“In every country, there is a different definition of what a signature is and what an identity is and how data needs to be managed securely,” said Gonser. “So, we are going country to country and building out this network so you can deploy an application on the DocuSign platform, and it will actually work anywhere in the world, very much like what Visa did when they built their network.”

That DocuSign network resonated with Reinhard Clemens, the CEO of T-Systems and a member of the board of management of Deutsche Telekom.

“Based on our strong European data protection and privacy principles, we invested in DocuSign to bring that same great experience to our customers so they can transact business 100% digitally – whenever and wherever convenient – with trust and confidence,” said Clemens in a release.

Other backers of DocuSign include FedEx, Microsoft, Dell, Intel Capital, Google Ventures, SAP Ventures, VISA, Salesforce Ventures, Samsung Venture Investment Corporation, Telstra, Comcast Ventures, the National Association of REALTORS and others.

For years, DocuSign has shunned the public markets, instead choosing to raise money via private sources. Will that change anytime soon?

We asked Gonser about the possibilities of an IPO at the GeekWire Summit, and here’s what he said:

“The public markets are a source of funds, and if the timing is right and the conditions are right, it can be a fantastic place to raise money. But that’s all it is…. For us, the kinds of things we are doing — investing in foreign markets and investing in technology that is very esoteric that people may never understand — it is much easier to do that when you are private than when you are public. We want to get as much of the big lifting out of the way, because when you are in the public market, then you have to explain everything and it all has to hold together. I think at some point it makes lots of sense. But when? Of course, we can’t answer that.”

Here’s Gonser speaking at the 2015 GeekWire Summit, with the IPO question answered in minute 24.

Previously on GeekWire: DocuSign’s Tom Gonser on his decision to be founder and chief strategist, but not CEO

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