Start-up company Allot Communications is raising $15 million, at a company value of $115 million, after money. Major investors include venture capital fund Tamir-Fishman 2 and Dain Rauscher Wessels, which is partner with Tamir-Fishman in Tamir-Fishman 2. The two companies invested $4 million in Allot.
Investors who have already put money into Allot also participated in the latest financing round: venture capital funds Tamar, Genesis, Gemini, Walden, the investment arm of Boston Bank and Japanese investment company Jafco. These companies invested $6 million between them. Another $5 million will come from other companies, with which Allot is negotiating.
This is Allot's third financing round. It has already raised $13 million: $1.5 million at the seed stage round: $4.3 million at the first financing round in February 1998; and $7 million in the second financing round in Q2 1999.
Company founder Yigal Jacoby said that the present financing round was the last private placement held by the company would hold. Allot is planning an IPO on NASDAQ at the end of the year or in early 2001.
Hod Hasharon-based Allot has developed a hardware-software solution for efficient bandwidth management aimed at resolving "bottleneck" problems in network traffic. The company sets its sales forecast for the present year at $8 million.
Allot employs some 80 staff at its offices in Israel and California. Eran Ziv has been company general manager for the last 18 months. Jacoby, who is company chairman, has already set up several companies in the past. He founded Armon Networks, which was sold to Bay Networks for $36 million in cash in early 1996. Jacoby also founded start-up company GlobaLoop, which developed Internet access solutions for multi-occupancy buildings. Jacoby has a holding in start-up company Business Layers.
Published by Israel's Business Arena on 29 March, 2000