(Cascadia Capital represented World Wide Packets in this transaction)
World Wide Packets Closes $15.7 Million in Third Round of Funding
Company Closes Substantial Round with New Lead Investors To Continue Deployment of Leading Ethernet-to-the-Subscriber (ETTS) Solution
Spokane, WA, January 12, 2004 - World Wide Packets, the leading provider of Ethernet access networking solutions, today announced that it has successfully completed a $15.7 million third round of venture funding, led by new investors Madrona Venture Group and Northwest Venture Associates. Several existing investors also participated in the latest round, including Azure Capital Partners. This financing will allow World Wide Packets to accelerate strong revenue and customer growth in their core markets, as well as expand into untapped sectors for Ethernet access solutions.
"In speaking with existing World Wide Packets' customers, it was immediately apparent that the company has delivered a suite of Ethernet access products that have exceeded service provider and end-user's expectations," said Matt McIlwain, managing director at Madrona Venture Group. "We were impressed by World Wide Packets' ability to sign several large, new customers in 2003 and their healthy sales pipeline in multiple emerging market segments. Additionally, the management team has a proven ability to execute in rapidly growing markets, which poises the company for great success."
In conjunction with the financing, Mr. McIlwain has been appointed to World Wide Packets' Board of Directors. Other members of the board include Paul Weinstein, general partner of Azure Capital Partners; David Curry, president and CEO of World Wide Packets; and Dan Reiner, who serves as Chairman of the Board. Additionally, Cascadia Capital, a national investment bank specializing in a number of market sectors including information technology and communications, assisted World Wide Packets in securing the financing.
World Wide Packets will use the latest round to enhance key business areas including new customer acquisition and support, global marketing and sales expansion, and continued aggressive development of its LightningEdge™ family of Ethernet access equipment. The LightningEdge product suite combines the control and consistency of circuit-switched technology with the unparalleled scalability and execution of Ethernet to remove the last mile bottleneck and enable service providers to deliver high demand Ethernet to the Subscriber™ (ETTS) services including simultaneous telephony, video, broadband data, and Internet access using Ethernet over fiber and copper.
According to Infonetics Research, the use of Ethernet in carrier networks will increase by 131% by 2006. This is primarily driven by end user demand for Ethernet services, lower prices, and the convenience of incrementally provisioned bandwidth.
"With demand for Ethernet-based services growing at a rapid pace, World Wide Packets is nicely positioned to gain a greater market share for its access solutions," said Michael Howard, principal analyst and co-founder of Infonetics Research. "The company has closed a healthy round of funding from a group of new and existing investors, which demonstrates the quality of their business and management team."
"In today's market, the only companies that stand to attract funding with new investors are those that can prove there is an existing need for their product and most importantly, customer validation and interest," said David Curry, president and CEO of World Wide Packets. "We are delighted at the choice these top-tier investment firms have made and are confident that they will play an integral role in the success and growth of our business. This third round of financing marks a major milestone for the company as we have already made excellent headway in continued product development, building out our global sales organization, and increased investment in our marketing activities. I have no doubt this round will rapidly accelerate World Wide Packets' growth curve and continue to propel us to a leadership position."
About Azure Capital Partners
Founded in April 2000 with a focus on infrastructure technologies, including enterprise & consumer software and communications equipment, Azure Capital Partners has over $500 million under management and offices in San Francisco and Menlo Park, CA. Azure's philosophy of investing is a platform approach of supporting and accelerating companies throughout their lifecycle of growth, ranging from early stage through maturity in the public markets. For more information, please visit www.azurecap.com.
About Madrona Venture Group
Madrona Venture Group LLC (www.madrona.com) is an early-stage venture capital firm focused on the information technology economy in the Pacific Northwest. The firm targets investments in technology companies, with an emphasis on enterprise software and services, consumer software and services, and wireless, networking and infrastructure. Based in Seattle, Madrona has a $250 million fund that includes early-stage investments such as Isilon Systems, Impinj and ShareBuilder. For more information, visit www.madrona.com.
About Northwest Venture Associates
Northwest Venture Associates (NWVA) has $190 million under management and is the largest venture capital fund exclusively invested in Pacific Northwest-based companies. Led by founder and managing partner Tom Simpson, NWVA has more than 15 years of experience investing in both start-up and mature businesses across several industries, such as enterprise software, healthcare, Internet, specialty retail and wireless. Additional information on Northwest Venture Associates can be found at www.nwva.com.
About World Wide Packets
Based in Spokane, WA, World Wide Packets LightningEdge™ Ethernet service delivery access network solution enables delivery of simultaneous telephony, business and entertainment video, broadband data, and Internet access services, to any combination of business and residential subscribers, using Ethernet over fiber and copper medium. By bringing together the limitless bandwidth capabilities of a fiber infrastructure with the affordability and proven performance of Ethernet, these networks eliminate the constant bandwidth challenges now facing network operators. World Wide Packets is a privately held corporation, and a recognized pioneer of Ethernet geographic network solutions. For more information on World Wide Packets, please visit www.worldwidepackets.com.
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Access Brilliance, Ethernet to the Subscriber, ETTS, Fiber to the Subscriber, FTTS, LightningEdge, World Wide Packets and the World Wide Packets logo are trademarks of World Wide Packets Incorporated. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Contact:
Daniel Carter
Racepoint Group, Inc.
617-583-1331
dcarter@racepointgroup.com