Ethernet over copper solutions developer Actelis Networks Inc. has raised $10 million from its current investors, Actelis investors Adams Street Partners, ATA Ventures, Argonaut Ventures, Carlyle Venture Partners, Dupont Capital Management, Global Catalyst Partners, Individuals' Venture Fund, Saints Capital, smac partners, T-Venture, Vertex Venture Capital, and Walden International Investment Group. The company had already raised $140 million since it was founded in 1998.
Actelis will use the capital to support further growth and deployment of its Ethernet in the First Mile (EFM) products by telecommunications network service providers, private enterprises in the education and healthcare IT markets, and municipalities that are upgrading city-wide transportation networks with new Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS).
Actelis president and CEO Tuvia Barlev noted, “Carrier Ethernet is the fastest growing market in telecom, and the explosive demand for Actelis’ EFM solutions is presenting a wealth of opportunities for the company"
Actelis signed contracts with 20 new customers in the first half of 2009. They include a contract estimated at $6-7 million with Germany's NetCologne, Slovenia's Telekom Slovenije, and France Telecom-Orange.
Irrespective of these wins, Actelis nonetheless is focusing on the US market. It said that the new financing will alsoenable it to take full advantage of opportunities presented from the $7.2 billion broadband stimulus that is part of the Obama Administration’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
Financially, however, Actelis's situation is rather embarrassing, at least for its investors. It has raised $150 million in eleven years, which raises the question as to how the investors will make a return on the investment. Barlev says, "The leading investors sit on our board of directors, and see everything that we do. They see the light at the end of the tunnel as well as I do."
Looking forward, Barlev will not provide an unambiguous statement about a possible additional financing round. "We're balanced, and our money continues to grow," he says, adding, "In the last quarter we repeated our record sales achieved in 2008. I hope that the next stage will be a semi-exit, such as a sale of equity or an IPO, or a real exit like a sale of the company."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on September 8, 2009
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