Press Releases
For Immediate Release - Santa Clara, California, July 24, 2002
Aurora Networks Secures $30 Million in Series B Funding
Additional Funds Support Increased Production in line with Customer
Demand
Santa Clara, CA. — May 28, 2002 — Aurora Networks, a leading
developer of advanced optical transport systems for broadband networks, announced today
that it has successfully raised approximately $30 million in a Series B funding, led by
the Sprout Group. The capital will be used to increase production capabilities. The
Sprout Group joined previous investors Battery Ventures, ComVentures and Castile
Ventures in providing this round of funding. To date, Aurora has raised $60 million in
funding.
Aurora's next-generation broadband transmission equipment is an evolutionary
progression of traditional hybrid fiber/coax (HFC) architectures that meets the high
bandwidth demands of new, revenue-generating residential and business services. While
Aurora's products are ideally suited for fiber deep architectures, where they provide
unparalleled speed, reliability and cost savings, they are also backward compatible with
existing HFC networks, providing an optimal migration path to future network architectures,
including fiber-to-the-home.
"Despite the tough conditions in the communications markets, recent
business activity at Aurora has been extremely strong. Aurora has proven its ability to
attract and retain major U.S. and Canadian customers looking for ways to improve their
networks and generate new revenue," said Stephen Diamond, General Partner for the
Sprout Group who will join Aurora's Board of Directors. "Aurora's customer traction
is also a strong endorsement of their technology and products. We're excited to be on
board with Aurora and look forward to their continued growth."
"Aurora's recent successes, including significant purchases by major
multiple system operators (MSOs), have proven that the market has confidence in our
advanced technology solution," said Guy Sucharczuk, President and CEO of Aurora
Networks. "We thank our customers and investors for their confidence in Aurora.
This round of funding will enable us to increase our production capability to meet the
needs of our growing customer base. It will also allow us to continue to develop the
best optical transport solutions for our customers, enabling bandwidth-intensive services,
such as video-on-demand (VoD), high-speed Internet access, business-to-business Ethernet,
circuit-switched telephony, voice-over-IP (VoIP) and interactive television."
About Battery Ventures
Battery Ventures is a premier venture capital firm largely focused on early stage
technology investments. With a team of more than 60 professionals and nearly two
decades of success, Battery has the people, experience and capital to guide
emerging technology companies to category dominance. Since 1983, the firm has
invested worldwide in more than 130 companies across the communications, software
and Internet/e-Business industries. From its offices in Wellesley, MA, and San
Mateo, CA, the partnership manages over $1.8 billion in committed capital. For more
information, visit www.battery.com.
About Castile Ventures
Castile Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm investing in innovative
enterprises developing future generations of telecommunications and Internet
infrastructure. Based in Waltham, MA, Castile was founded by networking industry
veterans to bring deep sector expertise and hands-on management experience to a
new generation of entrepreneurial businesses. The firm's signature is a high
degree of value-added support delivered through lasting partnerships with
entrepreneurs and young companies. For more information, visit
www.castileventures.com.
About ComVentures
ComVentures, based in Palo Alto, California, is a venture capital firm managing
over $1.2 billion. ComVentures invests exclusively in early-stage communications
and Internet companies focusing on three specific communications sectors: network
infrastructure, software and services. For more information, visit
www.comventures.com.
About the Sprout Group
The Sprout Group is one of the oldest and largest venture capital/private equity
firms in the U.S. Since 1969, Sprout has helped finance more than 300 companies
with combined sales exceeding $40 billion. With offices in Menlo Park and New York,
Sprout focuses on helping to grow companies in datacom and telecom, healthcare
technology, enterprise software, and technology-related services. Sprout Group is
a venture capital affiliate of Credit Suisse First Boston. For further information
on the Sprout Group, visit www.sproutgroup.com.
About Aurora Networks
Founded in November 1999, Aurora Networks designs, develops, and markets advanced
optical communications systems for traditional hybrid fiber/coax (HFC) networks
and advanced, fiber-deep broadband networks. The company's advanced technology
delivers significant increases in bandwidth and functionality while providing
substantial cost savings when compared to traditional HFC network technology.
Aurora Networks is privately held, with headquarters at 4151 Burton Drive, Santa
Clara, California 95054. For more information on Aurora Networks or its products,
e-mail info@aurora.com, phone (408) 562-1770 or visit www.aurora.com.
Contact:
John Dahlquist
Vice President, Marketing
Aurora Networks, Inc.
408.562.1770 x133
jdahlquist@aurora.com
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