Second Financing Round Led by Atlas Venture
STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN - October 15, 2001. Xelerated Packet Devices, leading the development of high-speed network processors, announced today that it has successfully completed a $12 Million Series B financing round with Atlas Venture, Alta Partners and Startupfactory.
This second round of financing will bring Xelerated's product family, the XeleratorTM, to the market and enable the company to expand according to plan throughout 2002. The company also announced its plans to establish a strong presence in the US in the near future.
Xelerated focuses on high-speed network processors that deliver wire-speed performance targeting the fast growing network processor market. According to Semico Research Corp. this market is expected to reach $3.3 billion in 2005. In June this year Xelerated announced its network processor product family targeted at 10-40 Gbps line speeds for Edge and Core networking equipment. Xelerated's products, available during early 2002, will provide system vendors with a unique ability to differentiate themselves from their competitors through extensive application programmability without compromising wire-speed performance.
The funding round was led by Atlas Venture, the leading international, early-stage venture capital firm, and included premier US venture capital firm Alta Partners and Xelerated's first investor Startupfactory. "Atlas Venture's and Alta Partners' presence on the US market and their track record of numerous successful investments in companies like ours will be a great asset in the establishment of Xelerated as the leading supplier of high-capacity network processors," says Johan Börje, CEO of Xelerated Packet Devices.
"Xelerated has made impressive progress during their first year, both in product development and in the establishment of key customer relationships. Their ability to achieve this in such a short period of time positions them very well for continued success," said Gerry Montanus, Atlas Venture's Senior Principal. "Closing a successful round in the present market situation manifests the strength of Xelerated's team and technology."
"The only companies that receive funding in today's market are those that can prove there is an existing need for their products and, most significantly, a clear customer interest," noted Khaled Nasr, General Partner of Alta Partners.
Sven-Christer Nilsson, co-founder of Startupfactory and former CEO of Ericsson, commented: "We welcome Atlas Venture and Alta Partners as new investors and members of Xelerated's board of directors. Their powerful networks and sector experience will contribute significantly to Xelerated's continued growth."
About Xelerated Packet Devices
Xelerated Packet Devices, a privately held company founded in August 2000, develops network processors and associated software for manufacturers of high-capacity Edge and Core networking equipment. Building on the latest advances in technology, Xelerated's pipelined architecture represents a quantum leap in terms of network-processor design, which in an entirely new way allows a combination of performance and programmability without compromising wire-speed performance. Through its First-to-FortyTM Partnership Program, Xelerated is partnering with other leading subsystem suppliers to enable system vendors to build and ship complete 40 Gbps line-card router solutions. Additional information about the company and its products is available at www.xelerated.com.
About Atlas Venture
Atlas Venture is the leading international, early-stage venture capital firm investing in information technology, communications, and life sciences companies. With offices in Boston, London, Menlo Park, Munich, Paris and Seattle Atlas Venture's investments are split evenly between the United States and Europe. For additional information, visit: www.atlasventure.com
About Alta Partners
Alta Partners, a California based company, is a venture capital firm investing in information technology and life sciences companies. Alta Partners invests in entrepreneurs and management teams with vision who are building companies that address large growth markets. For additional information, visit: www.altapartners.com
About Startupfactory
Startupfactory is an early stage Nordic venture capital firm, working with entrepreneurs in the IT, datacom and telecom industries. For additional information, visit: www.startupfactory.com
Press Contacs:
Ed Jezard, Atlas Venture
Phone: +44(0)20 7313 4765
E-mail: ed@gnash.co.uk
Khaled Nasr, General Partner Alta Partners
Phone: +1 415 782 4037
Staffan Helgesson, CEO Startupfactory
Phone: +46 8 5455 3201