 |
 |
 |
||||||||||||||
|
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
||||
| < 2004 News Listings | ||||||||||||||||
|
LightPointe Attracts $17 Million in Latest Funding Round New Investors, Rho Ventures and Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd., Join Sevin Rosen Funds to Fund Optical Wireless Company 
SAN DIEGO, CALIF. February 6, 2004 LightPointe, a designer and manufacturer of optical wireless products based on free-space optics (FSO) technology, today announced a $17 million round of financing that was led by Rho Ventures and included participation by China-based Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. Both Rho and Huawei join existing investors Sevin Rosen Funds, Ampersand Ventures, Telecom Partner, Cisco Systems Inc. and Corning Inc. –Through what all agree was the most challenging period in the history of the telecommunications industry, the optical wireless market has continued to grow, and LightPointe has increased revenue tenfold during this period.” said John Griffin, LightPointe president and chief executive officer. –This growth is a testament to strong market demand, plus the focus of our partners and employees to solve customer needs for cost-effective connectivity in a variety of fundamental network applications. This additional funding will allow us to accelerate our business activities to capitalize on an improving economy.” The new funds will be used to fund global marketing, product development and general working capital. Today, the company sells its optical wireless products in more than 60 countries, with existing revenue split equally between global service providers and enterprise customers. LightPointe has raised $78 million in capital and equity financing. Ben Terk, a partner with Rho Ventures, who joins the LightPointe Board of Directors, said: –LightPointe is the leader in the emerging optical wireless space and is well positioned as the market continues to grow in the three major customer segments: enterprise, mobile wireless service providers, and wireline service providers.” –LightPointeęs optical wireless products are unrivaled in their value for critical connectivity applications; providing customers cost-effective and easy installation in both public and private networks,” Terk said. –This combination of product features, as well as the companyęs partners and management team gives LightPointe a clear and distinct advantage.” During 2003, LightPointe's sales grew at the fastest pace in China where Huawei markets and sells LightPointe optical wireless products under the Huawei brand. "Optical wireless products are the only way to solve connectivity challenges cost-effectively at fiber-optic speeds in a host of flexible applications," said Guo Ping, Huaweięs exectutive vice president. "LightPointe provides the highest product quality and the most choices for customers, which has separated them from all other competitors in the rapidly evolving wireless optical sector. We are pleased to be a partner and investor." In the past year, LightPointe introduced its most advanced optical wireless product, FlightStrataČ, which quickly captured market share. In addition to its recent agreement with Huawei, LightPointe is part of the Cisco Service Provider Solutions Ecosystem Partner Program, has a global reseller agreement with Siemens AG, and sells its products in North America under the Corning brand. LightPointe is also a partner with ADC for solutions to mobile wireless service providers combining LightPointe's Flight products with ADC's DigivanceČ products. About LightPointe LightPointe designs and manufactures high-speed optical wireless products based on free-space optics (FSO) technology for cost-effective –last mile” connectivity in enterprise and carrier networks. LightPointe products are customer deployed in more than 60 countries, and the company is recognized worldwide for the highest standards of quality and service. To learn more, please visit www.lightpointe.com About Rho Ventures Rho has been an active venture capital investor since our inception in 1981. Venture capital funds under management currently exceed $750 million. We diversify our investments across various high growth sectors, including information technology, telecommunications, the Internet and healthcare, and invest throughout all stages of a company's development from seed to mezzanine rounds. We have invested in over 150 venture stage companies and have helped build industry leaders in all of the sectors in which we have invested. While not a prerequisite for investment, we have served as the lead investor in many of our portfolio companies. Venture investments have included Capstone Turbine (NASDAQ: CPST), Ciena Corporation (NASDAQ: CIEN), Commerce One (NASDAQ: CMRC), Compaq Computer Corporation (NYSE: CPQ), Diversa Corporation (NASDAQ: DVSA), Human Genome Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: HGSI), MedImmune, Inc. (NASDAQ: MEDI), and Tripod (currently part of Lycos). To learn more, visit www.rho.com About Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. Established in 1988, Huawei Technologies is a high-tech enterprise which specializes in research and development (R&D), production and marketing of communications equipment, providing customized network solutions for telecom carriers in optical, fixed, mobile and data communications networks. Huawei's customers include China Telecom, China Mobile, China Netcom, China Unicom as well as Thai AIS, Telefonica, SingTel, Hutchison Telecom, PCCW HKT, SUNDAY, Etisalat (UAE), Telemar (Brazil), Rostelecom (Russia), etc. Huawei's contracted sales in 2003 reached 3.83 billion USD, an increase of 42% year on year. To learn more, visit www.huawei.com About Sevin Rosen Funds Sevin Rosen Funds is a top-tier venture capital firm with a track record of funding successful companies since 1981. The partnership has consistently made early-stage investments in pioneering technologies and companies with the potential to create new markets. The most recent fund, Sevin Rosen Fund VIII, is capitalized at $600 million. Compaq, Lotus, Cypress, Citrix, CIENA and Capstone Turbine are some of the firm's successful IPOs. Sevin Rosen Funds has offices in Dallas, Palo Alto, Austin, and San Diego. For more information, go to: www.srfunds.com Contact: Jeff Bean LightPointe Global PR +1.858.643.5319 jbean@lightpointe.com |
|
|
Copyright ©2007 Rho Capital Partners, Inc.