All Optical Networks Announces $6 Million Series A Funding Round; Adds Technology Industry Leader to Executive Team.Business/Technology Editors SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 30, 2002 After months of focusing on product development, photonics solutions pioneer, All Optical Networks, Inc. (AON), today announced the closing of a $6 million Series A funding round and the addition of George Cagle to the post of executive vice president of engineering and operations. The funding round, led by ForeFront Capital, will be applied to commercializing AON's MetroScout(TM) transparent optical access multiplexer See multiplexor and multiplexing. multiplexer - multiplexor . The MetroScout is based on new "wavelength shift multiplexing multiplexing, in communication, technique whereby two or more independent messages, or information-bearing signals, are carried by a single common medium, or channel. " (WSM WSM Samoa (ISO Country code) WSM Wave Structure of Matter WSM Workers Solidarity Movement (Ireland) WSM Web Services Management WSM Weston-Super-Mare (Somerset, England) (TM)) technology, which allows all optical translation of data signals from one wavelength to another in the 1310 nanometer regime. "This funding and the addition of George Cagle is a key step in our strategy to commercialize our extensive intellectual property portfolio in all-optical networking solutions," said Ralph Bennett, president and chief executive officer, All Optical Networks. "As we further advance our technology platform and build our presence in the market, George's hands-on leadership will help us to fundamentally alter the economics of access transport networks and beyond." As executive vice president of engineering and operations, George Cagle will be responsible for leading AON's research and product development team. Cagle's background includes senior technology positions with some of the most revered companies in the optical networking Communications between computers, telephones and other electronic devices using light. An optical network is far more reliable and has far greater potential transmission capacity than networking in the electrical domain. See optical fiber. space. Most recently, Cagle served as senior vice president of engineering at Luxcore Networks, where he was directly responsible for the development of an all-optical product that combines traffic switching and transmission capabilities into a single platform. Previous experience includes his role as vice president of engineering and chief technical officer for Hitachi Telecommunications-USA (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange : HIT) and senior technology positions with Alcatel Network Systems (Nasdaq NM: ALAO ALAO Academic Library Association of Ohio ALAO Alabama Academy of Ophthalmology ). "I am excited to be part of the AON team," said George Cagle. "The company presents an exceptional opportunity to uniquely and cost-effectively address specific network choke points In military strategy, a choke point (or chokepoint) is a geographical feature (such as a valley or defile) which forces an army to go into a narrower formation (greatly decreasing combat power) in order to pass through it. , from metro-access through the core, that impede the viability and profitability of all-optical services. For example, our WSM technology enables service providers to quickly and economically respond to an unpredictable demand for bandwidth with a dynamic mix of bit-rates common in metro-access environments." Additionally, the company announced that it is beginning to raise its Series B round and intends to use the proceeds to achieve profitability in 2003. Pacific Crest Securities will be advising AON in its capital raising efforts. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. Erik Krieger, senior managing director of Pacific Crest, "There is ample investor appetite in the optical market for companies that posses both innovative and evolutionary cost-effective all-optical solutions and proven management. AON stands out as one of the emerging companies that combines both." About Pacific Crest Securities Pacific Crest is the leading investment bank dedicated solely to understanding leading edge technology, communications, and commerce companies whose growth is being driven by the rapid proliferation proliferation /pro·lif·er·a·tion/ (pro-lif?er-a´shun) the reproduction or multiplication of similar forms, especially of cells.prolif´erativeprolif´erous pro·lif·er·a·tion n. of interconnectedness and the Internet. Pacific Crest's team of experienced professionals is relied upon by North America's largest institutional investors Institutional Investor A non-bank person or organization that trades securities in large enough share quantities or dollar amounts that they qualify for preferential treatment and lower commissions. , leading public companies and dynamic emerging-growth enterprises. About All Optical Networks All Optical Networks, Inc. (AON), develops advanced photonic Dealing with light (photons). See photon and photonics. systems and products for all-optical transmission, routing and management. The company leverages its rich portfolio of patented and proprietary technologies to create innovative all-optical network solutions. AON's first commercial product is the MetroScout. Based on AON's proprietary Wavelength Shift Multiplexing (WSM) technology, MetroScout delivers native protocol and bit-rate transparency up to an unprecedented 10 Gbps per channel for metro-access applications. The company is based in San Diego's high-tech corridor. For more information, visit the company's web site at http://www.alloptical.net or call 858.623.5400. |
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