|
 Home
About
EEP
Our Approach
Investment
Themes
Portfolio
The
Team
 In The Press
  In The Press -
Current
In The
Press 2007
In The
Press 2006
In
The Press 2005
In
The Press 2004
In
The Press 2003
In
The Press 2002
In
The Press 2001
In
The Press 2000
Submitting a Business Plan
Contact us
|
Publication: Tornado Insider
Date: 11th October 2001
Title: The Stepchild Of B2 Gains Funding
PacketFront, a Stockholm-based startup developing an integrated software
solution for metropolitan access to Ethernet broadband networks (EBNs),
has raised an unspecified amount in seed funding (reportedly between Euros
500,000 and Euros 3 million) from European Equity Partners (EEP).
The startup, founded in 2001 by former employees at US giant Cisco Systems
and Swedish broadband operator Bredbandsbolaget (B2), has developed a
set of products specifically targeted to the fiber-to-the-home (FTTH)
segment. The first products to be launched include access switching routers,
with fiber or copper interfaces; an Ethernet broadband control system
(BECS), for the control of users identity; and a family of home switches
to support TV, video-on-demand and phone services.
"Our technology," says Martin Thunman, CEO of PacketFront, "is
an open platform, enabling different operators to offer their services
sharing the same infrastructures. Further, it meets operators security
needs of tracking users identity, allowing them to forsee hacker attacks."
Compared to traditional Enterprise LAN switches, by now used also in the
residential sector, PacketFront's solutions are exclusively designed to
meet demand in the FTTH segment.
This market is still in its embryonic phase, but Thunman expects it to
explode in the next five years, especially in Europe and Japan. The CEO,
formerly with Cisco Systems, claims that this will happen thanks to synergies
with leading energy suppliers that are willing to exploit their existing
infrastructures to deliver at lower costs broadband to private buildings.
In Sweden, utility companies such as Vattenfall, Sydkraft Bredband and
Birka Energi have already entered the broadband arena. In fact, they are
deploying broadband solutions through their electricity lines, competing
with traditional operators like B2.
EEP, which in October 2000 launched a Euros 53 million fund targeted at
Scandinavian wireless startups, "is presently looking for other participants
in a second round of financing in PocketFront," says Hans Blomberg,
founder of the company.
Back
to Press Coverage>>
|
