Monday August 20, 2:21 pm Eastern Time
Press Release
SOURCE: Aravox Technologies
Aravox Raises $14 Million in Additional Financing
Global Crossing Ventures, Inc. Leads Second Financing Round
MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--August 20, 2001--Aravox Technologies, Inc., the first company to offer a network services platform that enables secure, real-time communications for carriers, access providers, and managed service providers deploying voice over IP networks, today announced $14M in Series B funding, bringing the total amount of funding to $16.5M.
Global Crossing Ventures, Inc., the venture capital arm of Global Crossing Ltd. (NYSE: GX - news), led the round. Also participating were SAIC Venture Capital Corporation and St. Paul Venture Capital. SAIC VCC is the venture arm of Science Applications International Corporation. St. Paul, one of the largest early-stage venture capital firms in the United States, also led Aravox's first-round funding in December 1999.
``Our partners and investors have confirmed what Aravox has already known--that a significant market exists for our products and services,'' said Bill Treacy, CEO and president of Aravox. ``It's especially gratifying to receive the backing of such knowledgeable investors when the telecommunications industry and the equity markets are going through tough times. Clearly, they understand the significance of our technology based on their own internal requirements and market demand.''
``Aravox's VoIP network services platform is ideal for service providers who are deploying next generation voice and video services,'' said Michael Cohen of Global Crossing Ventures, Inc. ``We are very excited about Aravox's market opportunity and the value proposition that this technology brings to network service providers and their customers. Aravox provides technology that enables new voice services to be offered, and understands the requirements of real-time communication applications and how they will be deployed by service providers.''
Aravox recently released its suite of purpose-built platforms for VoIP network services. These products provide access control, dynamic IP address/port management, packet steering to direct the media path across networks and bandwidth management services. ``As service providers capitalize on their IP networks by offering VoIP services, we believe Aravox's technology can become an important component of their network infrastructure. Aravox has an opportunity to be a leader in VoIP network services for next generation networks,'' said Robert Lind, managing director at SAIC VCC.
``One of the key capabilities of Aravox's VoIP network services platform is dynamic address/port translation, which enables access providers to support private to public address translation for managed VoIP services, and enables carriers to create peering relationships with other carriers, securely and privately. This a unique feature from Aravox and is a critical requirement for next generation networks, said Zenas Hutcheson, general partner of St. Paul Venture Capital. ''We are very pleased that service providers are recognizing the need for this capability and turning to Aravox for the solution.``
Aravox plans to use the additional funding to accelerate development of new product features and expand its sales and marketing efforts. The company's current workforce of 52 employees will be expanded throughout the 2001 calendar year.
About Aravox
Aravox Technologies (www.aravox.com) has created critical enabling technology for architects of converged communications networks, including carriers, CLECs, and xSPs. The Aravox VoIP network services platform is a purpose built IP infrastructure solution that provides access control, conserves and manages public IP addresses, manages call consumption of bandwidth on per session basis, and preserves end-to-end voice quality. Aravox systems provide access control at the network edge to support carriers' network peering architectures. As a result, carriers can deliver high-quality, real-time communications of all types via converged IP networks. Aravox's customers include Level (3), Vonage, and Webley Systems. The company, based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, is privately held. For more information, please visit www.aravox.com.
About Global Crossing Ventures, Inc.
Global Crossing Ventures, Inc., the venture capital arm of Global Crossing Ltd., (NYSE:GX - news), was founded in February of 1999 to establish relationships with start-ups and entrepreneurs developing services, equipment, or applications that have the potential to significantly impact the Internet or communications sectors. Through these relationships, Global Crossing Ventures, Inc. will be able to offer technical and strategic guidance on products and applications, identify new business opportunities, and work side-by-side with industry visionaries to create next-generation Internet solutions. For more information visit www.gcventures.com.
About SAIC VCC
The SAIC Venture Capital Corporation (SAIC VCC) was founded in 2000 by Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) to make equity investments in early-stage, high-potential companies to promote leading-edge technologies and develop key strategic relationships in the areas of telecommunications, information technology, the Internet and electronic commerce. SAIC is the nation's largest employee-owned research and engineering company, providing information technology, systems integration and eBusiness products and services to commercial and government customers. More information about the SAIC VCC can be found on the Internet at www.saic-vcc.com.
About St.Paul Venture Capital
St. Paul Venture Capital is one of the largest early-stage venture capital firms in the United States with $3.0 billion in committed capital and offices in Minneapolis, Boston and Silicon Valley. The firm, founded in 1988, invests primarily in the areas of Communications, Business Internet, Consumer Technology, and Health Care. For more information, visit the firm's website at www.stpaulvc.com.
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Contact:
The Weber Group for Aravox
Brian Posnanski, 646/658-8201
bposnanski@webergroup.com |
