TEKNOVUS COMPLETES $13 MILLION C-ROUND FUNDING
Focus Ventures leads round for broadband access chipset company
Petaluma, Calif. August 29, 2005 - Teknovus, the leading provider of Ethernet Passive Optical Networks (EPON) chipsets for the deployment of IPTV in broadband access networks, today announced the closing of its Series C round of funding at $13 million. This brings the total funding of the company to $33 million to date. This investment round was led by Focus Ventures of Palo Alto, Calif., with participation from Infotech Ventures Ltd. of Beijing, China, Komura of Tokyo, Japan, Venture Tech Alliance of San Jose, as well as current investors Mitsubishi Corporation, Partech International, Portview Communications, Samsung Ventures America, SUITgrowth Fund, and U.S. Venture Partners (USVP). Teknovus will use this new funding for the continued development of company infrastructure and industry-leading semiconductor technologies used in the global deployment of broadband access networks.
Teknovus leads the EPON market in global carrier deployments of fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) broadband access networks, including exclusive use of Teknovus EPON chipsets by KDDI (Japan) and Korea Telecom (KT). Teknovus also leads in technology superiority with the only EPON technology to enable simultaneous delivery of IPTV/video, voice, and data services in FTTH networks. Additionally, Teknovus gigabit EPON chipsets are the first EPON products on the market to complete the IEEE 802.3ah compliance standards, the ideal checklist for interoperability among telecom carriers. This rigorous compliance-standards testing and verification was recently conducted by the prestigious University of New Hampshire Interoperability Laboratory (UNH-IOL).
“Fiber-to-the-home is ramping up in Asia, especially in China, Japan and Korea where advanced telecommunications is experiencing a strong growth rate,” said James Boettcher, general partner of Focus Ventures. “With Teknovus clearly emerging as the preferred vendor of choice for EPON technology, they are well positioned to benefit from our extensive Asian channel connections.”
“Our new investors reflect a deep understanding of the high-growth potential of FTTH access networks and the use of EPON within the Asian marketplace. In addition, these investors have strong strategic connections within Asia, and have the ability to assist in our plans for new deployments,” stated Dr. Rex Naden, CEO of Teknovus. “We’re also very gratified by the continued support of our current investors who enabled us to achieve our technology and deployment leadership position in the EPON market. They, along with our employees, have been rewarded with an increase in the valuation of the company with the C round.”
About Teknovus
Teknovus delivers the only Ethernet Passive Optical Network (EPON) chipsets that fully support low-cost, IPTV-triple-play services via optical fiber networks. Teknovus EPON chipsets are fundamentally changing the design of broadband access networks by increasing transport capacity, optimizing fiber infrastructure, improving manageability, integrating services functionality, and drastically reducing the cost of optical access. To learn more about Teknovus, see www.teknovus.com.
About Focus Ventures
Focus Ventures is the leading expansion stage venture capital firm that invests in emerging market leaders in the software, semiconductor and communications industries. Focus Ventures currently manages $570 million, having closed its first fund in October 1997 and Focus Ventures II in December 1999. Focus Ventures offers its portfolio companies access to high quality partners in Asia and an extensive network of resources focused specifically on driving top line revenue growth through customer introductions and by establishing distribution channels, joint ventures and licensing arrangements. Since the firm's inception, Focus Ventures has invested in 86 companies and has had 20 IPOs and seven acquisitions by public companies. A select number of portfolio companies that have gone public include: Active Software, Agile Software, Alteon WebSystems, BroadBase Software, Chordiant Software, Commerce One, Copper Mountain Networks, Corio, CoSine Communications, Interwoven, Loudcloud, Niku, Pixelworks, and Verisity.
About Investment Groups for Teknovus
For more information about existing investors of Teknovus, see the following websites:
http://www.teknovus.com/invest_v2.html
For new C round investors, see the following websites.
Focus Ventures: www.focusventures.com
Venture Tech Alliance: www.vtalliance.com
Komura: http://www.yedvc.co.jp/
Infotech Ventures Ltd: http://www.infovc.com/index-e.htm
PR Contacts:
Aggie Frizzell
425-503-3036
aggie@fast-forwardnow.com
Erica Cottrill
770-528-6097
ericafpc@bellsouth.net
Jenny Spitz for Focus Ventures
415-217-7722
jenny@blueshirtgroup.com