Mangrove Secures $21M Series B Funding With Top Tier Venture Firms
Funds to be used for Advanced Development of MetroMPLS(tm) Platforms and Support of Customer Initiatives
WALLINGFORD, CT-February 14, 2005 - Mangrove Systems, developer of the
industry's first metro and access solution to enable end-to-end MPLS,
today announced it has successfully closed its $21 million Series B
financing bringing the total capital raised to $42 million. The
additional investment reflects the strong support of new investors STAR
Ventures and Gold Hill Venture Lending as well as all existing major
investors, Bessemer Venture Capital, Highland Capital Partners and
Columbia Capital. Mangrove will use the funds to expand the Company's
sales, marketing and product development activities in order to
capitalize on the market opportunity for converged MPLS solutions.
"This new investment will fuel our growth and transition Mangrove to a
full scale manufacturing company capable of meeting our customer's
demands and expectations," said John Hannon, Mangrove CFO.
Mangrove's MetroMPLS platforms were introduced and successfully
demonstrated in June, 2004, and are currently undergoing trials with
major service providers around the world. MetroMPLS technology allows
carriers to extract additional profit from their existing infrastructure
while seamlessly migrating to future networks.
"In today's demanding market, companies must bring together an excellent
team, a compelling solution, and top of the line execution," stated
Pinny Chaviv, Partner and Investment Manager at STAR Ventures.
"Mangrove is one of the few infrastructure companies that we believe has
the expertise and assets to succeed in this market."
Bob Goodman, General Partner at Bessemer Venture Partners added,
"Mangrove has brought together an outstanding team that has delivered on
a product vision, has demonstrated customer execution to capture an
enormous market opportunity and has laid a solid foundation for
continued and on-going success. They are well positioned to solve the
immediate and future business challenges carriers face."
"Mangrove is committed to delivering cost-effective, advanced technology
solutions to our customers. The strong support from these leading
investors in a challenging funding environment validates the progress we
have made to date and the exciting market opportunity we are beginning
to exploit," said Jonathan Reeves, Mangrove president and CEO. "We will
continue to play a key role in transforming the metro and access
infrastructure into a fully converged, MPLS network."
About Mangrove Systems
Founded in 2002 by one of the industry's most experienced technology
leadership teams, Mangrove Systems is developing a family of innovative
MetroMPLS(tm) Access and Switching platforms that bridge the divide
between today's TDM-based access and metro network and the rapidly
evolving MPLS core. Mangrove's MetroMPLS is the first solution to enable
end-to-end MPLS networking. Mangrove Systems is located in Wallingford,
CT. For more information visit: www.mangrovesystems.com