Agilent Technologies' Venture Unit Invests in Big Bear Networks' Series B Round of Funding.Business Editors/High-Tech Writers PALO ALTO Palo Alto, city, California Palo Alto (păl`ō ăl`tō), city (1990 pop. 55,900), Santa Clara co., W Calif.; inc. 1894. Although primarily residential, Palo Alto has aerospace, electronics, and advanced research industries. , Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 22, 2002 Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange :A) today announced that Agilent Ventures (AV) has participated in the Series B-1 Preferred Stock Stock shares that have preferential rights to dividends or to amounts distributable on liquidation, or to both, ahead of common shareholders. Preferred stock is given preference over common stock. Holders of preferred stock receive dividends at a fixed annual rate. funding round for Big Bear Networks Inc., a privately held company privately held company A firm whose shares are held within a relatively small circle of owners and are not traded publicly. that designs and manufactures highly integrated, optoelectronic interface solutions for next generation high-speed optical transmission operating at rates from 10 Gb/s to greater than 40 Gb/s. The AV follow-on investment was part of a Series "B" preferred round of funding, led by Menlo Ventures, which raised over $40 million in equity. Founded in 2000, Big Bear Networks develops electro-optical module and subassembly sub·as·sem·bly n. pl. sub·as·sem·blies An assembled unit forming a component to be incorporated into a larger assembly. products based on its Photronic Signal Processing (PSP (PlayStation Portable) See PlayStation. ) technology. PSP overcomes the impairments that degrade data-transmission signals over fiber-optic links, enabling telecommunication carriers to deploy longer and faster fiber links with minimum capital and operational expenditure. "Agilent Ventures' investment in Big Bear Networks is yet another example of Agilent's willingness to invest in innovative early-stage technology companies despite the current economic downturn," said Maximilian Schroeck, managing director for AV. "We see a number of potential areas for technical collaboration between Agilent and Big Bear Networks." "We are delighted to have gained a strategic investment partner with expertise across a wide range of high-speed communication technologies, from test equipment to optical networking," said Mark Thompson, president and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. of Big Bear. "The synergies between the two companies offer significant possibilities for moving beyond our funding relationship into a longer-term, mutually beneficial technology partnership." About Big Bear Networks Big Bear Networks' Photronic Signal Processing technology, applicable to next-generation 10- and 40-gigabit-per-second optical system products, combines low-cost electronics and digital signal processing See DSP. Digital Signal Processing - (DSP) Computer manipulation of analog signals (commonly sound or image) which have been converted to digital form (sampled). to automatically correct for fiber impairments that become more severe at greater transmission speeds and distances. PSP is the foundation for a line of highly integrated electrical-optical interface solutions that Big Bear will bring to market later this year in the form of subassemblies and transponders. Headquartered in Milpitas, Calif., Big Bear has previously raised $60 million in two rounds of private funding from Accel Partners, Austin Ventures, Menlo Ventures, Oak Investment Partners and Sequoia Capital. About Agilent Ventures Agilent Ventures is a business unit of Agilent Technologies Inc. dedicated to investing globally in groundbreaking, privately held, early-stage technology companies. Additional information about Agilent Ventures, as well as investment proposal forms, are available at www.agilentventures.com. About Agilent Technologies Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE:A) is a global technology leader in communications, electronics and life sciences. The company's 37,000 employees serve customers in more than 120 countries. Agilent had net revenue of $8.4 billion in fiscal year 2001. Information about Agilent is available on the Web at www.agilent.com. NOTE TO EDITORS: Further technology, corporate citizenship Corporate Citizenship The extent to which businesses are socially responsible in meeting legal, ethical and economic responsibilities placed on them by shareholders. The aim it to create higher standards of living and quality of life in the community in which it operates, while and executive news is available on the Agilent news site at www.agilent.com/go/news. |
|
||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion