Aperto Networks Raises $20 Million in Series D Funding
Company to expand global sales and support, complete WiMAX certification and a comprehensive range of 802.16 solutions
Milpitas, Calif., (March 8, 2004) – Aperto Networks, a leading provider of WiMAX-class broadband wireless access systems, announced today a $20 million Series D financing round. Led by JK&B Capital and with participation from Aperto's key existing investors including Canaan Partners, Alliance Ventures, Innovacom, Tyco Ventures, Labrador Ventures, and Satwik Ventures, this funding brings the company's total financial backing to $77 million.
Aperto will use the Series D funds to expand its sales initiatives, further develop its technology portfolio to complete certification of 802.16/WiMAX-compliant products, and increase support for Aperto's global customers, which already number over 120 service providers in over 40 countries.
"Aperto Networks is an excellent fit with our investment criteria in the communications sector," said Al DaValle, a long-standing partner with JK&B Capital. "Aperto is a strong, revenue-stage company which has proven its ability to win key carrier contracts, scale to volume delivery, and extend its innovation to keep ahead of the pack with a highly differentiated solution. The company's strong momentum in European, North American and other international wireless carrier markets also strongly validates its original strategy of focusing on carrier-class solutions for business-grade multiservice delivery."
"We are pleased to have won the support of JK&B Capital," emphasized Reza Ahy, Aperto Networks Chairman and CEO. "The JK&B team represents some of the most selective limited partners in the world and its principals hold a high bar for performance. As former vice-president of Ameritech/SBC, Al DaValle has tremendous depth in broadband access delivery, very large-scale operations and RBOC network platform deployment. He will be a strong addition to our board at this next critical phase of Aperto's expansion."
Aperto Networks' WiMAX-class base stations and subscriber units enable both licensed and unlicensed frequency broadband wireless access for business-grade users. Providers use PacketWave® systems to deliver wireless T1/E1 and Fractional T1/E1 speeds, wireless VPNs and VLANs, disaster recovery and Hot Spot backhaul, as well as VoIP and streaming media.
About Aperto Networks
Aperto Networks is a leader in 802.16-class multiservice broadband wireless access systems for global markets. The company was founded to provide breakthrough solutions to the bottleneck in last-mile broadband access, and is a founding board member of the WiMAX Forum as well as a founder and lead contributor to IEEE 802.16 and the ETSI-BRAN standards. Its PacketWave® system is a family of base stations, subscriber units, radios and antennas in 2.5, 3.5 and 5 GHz frequencies for point-to-point and point-to-multipoint deployment. PacketWave's scalability and patented technologies support new wireless builds and complement wireline broadband access networks. Aperto is already deployed in 50 countries, meeting service provider needs for installation ease, IP-rich network functionality, cost effectiveness, rapid provisioning and interference resilience. For more information on Aperto Networks, go to www.apertonet.com.
About JK&B Capital
JK&B Capital is a venture capital firm based in Chicago with $900 million under management. The firm was founded in 1996 with the belief that in addition to capital and financial savvy, successful venture investing requires unique relationships and in-depth industry and technical expertise in order to identify the most attractive investment opportunities and consistently add value to portfolio companies. For more information, visit the firm's website at www.jkbcapital.com.