Bluesocket Raises $10 Million in Funding Round18 January 2005
Bluesocket, Inc. (www.bluesocket.com), the leading vendor of products that secure and manage wireless networks (WLANs) with 900+ customers worldwide, today announced it has closed its Series B round of equity financing in the amount of (U.S.) $10 million. The additional financing brings Bluesocket's total funding to date to $42 million.
The internal round had participation from current investors including Vesbridge Partners (formerly St. Paul Venture Capital), Menlo Ventures, Boulder Ventures, Ascent Venture Partners, Ridgewood Capital, and Ironside Ventures.
Bluesocket plans to use the additional funding for extending its sales channels, marketing, and further development of its award-winning family of WLAN Solutions including Wireless Gateways, and RF monitoring and Intrusion Protection systems.
The company also announced today it has appointed Peter Smith as Chairman of the Board, in addition to the appointment of Gary Eichhorn to the Board.
Peter Smith served as Bluesocket's interim CEO prior to Ralph Calistri's joining the company as it's current CEO. Mr. Smith also serves as Executive Chairman of ANSYS, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANSS), a highly successful engineering software company where he previously served as CEO leading the company's initial public offering. In addition he is Chairman of Neartek Inc., a provider of storage management software and systems, and he is a director of several other private software companies. He has also been a senior executive and officer of Digital Equipment Corporation.
Gary Eichhorn was previously CEO of Open Market, Inc., and during his tenure the company grew annual revenues from $1 million to more than $80 million. Mr. Eichhorn has held executive management positions at Hewlett Packard and Digital Equipment Corporation. Eichhorn is currently a member of the National Association of Corporate Directors and serves as Chairman of the Board for GeoTrust, the second largest digital certificate provider in the world.
"Being one of the first companies born in the Wi-Fi security space, Bluesocket has grown rapidly within the high-growth $2 billion market for WLAN equipment," said Ralph Calistri, Bluesocket CEO. "This funding round will ensure that Bluesocket remains a leader in Secure Wireless Solutions. We will turn some heads with our product plans this year while providing a growth path for our nearly 1,000 customers."
Most recently, Bluesocket signaled its entry into the lucrative government market by announcing it had been awarded a GSA Federal Supply Schedule contract in addition to achieving FIPS 140-2 Level 2 certification from the US Government's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Canadian Government's Communications Security Establishment (CSE). The standard defines security requirements for cryptographic tools used to protect information within IT systems. (Source: http://csrc.nist.gov/cryptval/)
Bluesocket also recently announced its WG-400 Wireless Gateway, an enterprise-class solution delivering remote administration and management, interoperability and security for wireless LANs operating in remote branch offices; and small to medium workplaces of 50 employees.
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Victor Cruz, 508-785-1590
vcruz@mediapr.net
Source: Business Wire
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