Storm of venture capital. (Technology).

Tornado Development Inc. closed a $20 million round of funding last week to advance its messaging and communications business.

The El Segundo company, founded in 1995, makes e-mail, voice mail and fax products for telecommunications carriers. Among the customers are OfficeMax.com, Global Crossing Ltd., Network Services LLP and e-responses inc.

The $20 million came from existing investors GE Equity, QuestMark Partners LP of Baltimore, Intel Communications Fund and Kuwaiti investment group and industrial holding company KIPCO.

Emblaze Systems Ltd., based in Israel, has invested $5 million in Tornado, according to Ziv Eliraz, Emblaze's vice president of business development. The Israeli firm provides hardware and software to telecom carriers and handheld device manufacturers.

"What we see is a mature messaging technology that has a good potential for sale within carriers," Eliraz said. "You're going to see them taking business away from other people."

The new funding round puts the company at better than $70 million raised since its founding, according to Duke Fonner, product manager at Tornado Development.

Fonner said the money will be used to pursue products for the emerging short message service technology now hot in Europe. Short message services send text messages between wireless devices.

Fonner said the concept is gaining popularity because carriers charge lower rates for text messaging than for voice calls. Developing technology will allow customers to pass pictures, sounds and video images back and forth, he said.