Overture Gets $12.3M

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. -- Overture Networks, a leading developer of converged packet access platforms for Carrier Ethernet services, today announced the closure of an oversubscribed $12.3 million Series C financing round. Lehman Brothers Venture Partners, a new investor in Overture Networks, led the round with a total of $7 million. Current investors Morgenthaler Ventures, Intersouth Partners, TDF, Armada Ventures, Gray Ventures and other existing investors provided the remaining amount. Overture Networks will use these funds to expand its global sales and marketing strategy and increase its development programs in order to take advantage of the rapid increase in demand for access edge hardware and software used to deliver Carrier Ethernet services over fiber, SONET/SDH and copper.

“We are extremely delighted to have this strong vote of confidence in our position in the converged packet access space from an internationally recognized firm such as Lehman Brothers,” said Jeff Reedy, president and CEO of Overture Networks. “The rapid uptake of Carrier Ethernet services has validated our positioning and execution to date and we will now be able to expand our presence to take advantage of the momentum we have built.”

According to Infonetics Research, “Worldwide Ethernet service revenue jumped another 65% in 2006 to reach $9.4 billion.” With over 115 customers in over 25 countries, including five of the top 10 service providers in North America, Overture Networks has experienced the same type of dramatic growth over the past year. Overture Networks develops network edge and aggregation systems that allow carriers to economically reshape their networks and revenue streams by deploying uniform managed Carrier Ethernet services to every customer location, whether accessible over direct fiber, optical transport or copper. The ISG family of products allows service providers to significantly enhance their service capabilities and customer responsiveness at the edge of their networks – which in turn permits providers to increase their footprint and revenue opportunities in an extremely cost effective manner.

“We believe Overture Networks has enormous opportunity in the rapidly growing managed Carrier Ethernet space,” said Stewart Gollmer, a partner at Lehman Brothers Venture Partners. “Overture has clearly demonstrated its ability to execute and has repeatedly proven the incredible demand for service providers to intelligently deliver Carrier Ethernet to any location – at speeds ranging from 1 Mbps to 1 Gbps and beyond. We look forward to helping Overture Networks become the leading equipment provider in this space.”

Overture Networks Inc.