Private Equity Week Wire for Tuesday 2/6

DENVER — Telseon, the leading provider of instantly scalable optical networks, announced today that it raised $100 million in new equity investment from leading investment banks, strategic partners and venture firms. In addition, the company has arranged for $75 million in capital lease financing. Since its inception, Telseon has raised more than $261 million in capital. This capital will enable Telseon to double the size of its network and continue to develop its secure Ethernet solutions. Led by DLJ Global Communications Partners, the telecommunications investment arm of DLJ Merchant Banking Partners (an affiliate of CSFB Private Equity), new investments came from Bruckmann, Rosser, Sherrill & Co., Cabletron Systems, Foundry Networks, Ovation Capital, Lexent and U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray. Additionally, second round investors Crosspoint Venture Partners, Goldman Sachs, Hunt Ventures and Sevin Rosen Funds reaffirmed their commitments to Telseon by participating in this round.

HONG KONG — JP Morgan Partners, the private equity arm of JP Morgan Chase& Co., has announced a US$6 million investment in UANGEL Corporation, a Korean-basedintegrated wireless data and mobile commerce solutions provider. The funds have been earmarkedfor expansion of the business both in Korea and cross-border.Founded by members of the wireless networking research and development group at SK Telecom inmid-1999, annual sales of UANGEL Corporation hit US$5.3 million in CY 2000.

SEATTLE — Asta Networks, a developer of Internet reliability products and services, today announced that it has secured $15 million in its second round of funding, led by Atlas Venture. Both previous investors, ARCH Venture Partners and Madrona Venture Group, also participated in the round. Additionally, Laura Jennings, a senior principal at Atlas Venture, will join the Asta Networks Board of Directors.

AUSTIN, TEXAS — Lane15 Software, the leading developer of InfiniBand(TM)(1) management software, today announced it has completed its Series A round of funding with an investment from Lightspeed Venture Partners, a leading venture capital firm with an extensive record of investments in Internet infrastructure software and services companies. Lane15 will use the capital from its Series A round to fuel its growth, and further the development and deployment of InfiniBand technology. Lane15 had previously announced other participants in the round, including Austin Ventures, AV Labs, Compaq Computer Corp. (NYSE:CPQ), and Intel Capital.

BOCA RATON, FL — Boca Photonics Inc., an optical networking company that provides service solutions focused on engineering competitive economic advantages for network operators, announced today that it has raised $3 million in venture financed seed funding led by VantagePoint Venture Partners of San Bruno, Calif. (www.vpvp.com) and Alliance Technology Ventures of Atlanta, Ga. (www.atv.com). Boca Photonics has partnered with VantagePoint Venture Partners and Alliance Technology Ventures because of their excellent track record and commitment to the telecommunications industry.

SAN JOSE, CA — Rainfinity, the provider of continuous availability software for business transactions over the Internet, announced today that it has completed its second round of institutional funding in the amount of $30 million. Carlyle Venture Partners led the round with additional funding from Intel Capital and INVESCO Private Capital. Existing investors, including Alloy Ventures, New Enterprise Associates (NEA), and Spinner Asset Management, also participated. This most recent round brings Rainfinity’s total venture capital funding to more than $45 million since the company was started in 1999.
WESTFORD, MA — Narad Networks Inc., a broadband IP services infrastructure company, today announced it has secured $41.6 million in its first round of private financing, led by Polaris Venture Partners and including leading network industry entrepreneurs and executives. The company also announced its board of directors, including veteran technology pioneers Bob Metcalfe, inventor of Ethernet, and Rouzbeh Yassini, “father” of the cable modem, as well as Jonathan Flint, managing general partner and co-founder of Polaris. Narad Networks is developing next generation broadband IP access networks and an advanced service-enabling environment. Initially targeted at cable operators, Narad’s Virtual Fiber(TM) solution cost-effectively brings all the benefits of fiber optic networks to existing Hybrid-Fiber Coax (HFC) networks. By providing a solution that provides high capacity, managed bandwidth and a software environment to rapidly enable demand-driven IP services, Narad Networks is helping cable operators to gain additional, higher margin revenue streams from business and industrial customers.

SUNNYVALE, CA — Paramark Inc., a pioneering developer of technology for the automated optimization of online marketing campaigns, announced today that it had successfully completed a second round of financing, raising more than $9 million. The largest share, $7 million, represents an investment from eVerger, which provides funding and management expertise to marketing companies that target online customers. The remainder comes from early stage venture capital firms and a group of distinguished private investors with extensive operating and investing experience, many of whom also supported Paramark’s first round of angel funding.