Village Networks Inc., the N.J.-based maker of MPLS-based optical edge systems, is about to kick the bucket.

The company will close within a few days, a company spokesperson says, as soon as a transition team helps it wind down its relationships with customers and vendors.

Only a couple of weeks ago, Light Reading reported that Village had gone through a significant layoff and that the remaining staffers were scrambling to close deals with some Asian service providers. Evidently, those efforts failed.

A spokesperson said Wednesday that the company had been through several rounds of layoffs during the past year. A company press release put the headcount at 80 in October 2000, and it swelled to 140 by October 2001, according to information Village supplied to Dun & Bradstreet. Since then, the number has been shrinking steadily.

Kai Eng founded Village in 1998 (see Village Networks and Village Unveils "Optical Packet Node"), but it ran into some trouble in 2001 (see Village Stung by Employee Arrest and Atoga, Village Networks Scale Back). The company had raised $50 million in venture capital funding, plus a couple of bridge loans. Most of this funding came from Spectrum Equity Investors, Geocapital Partners, Acappella Ventures, Capital Associates, Global Crossing Ventures, The Goldman Sachs & Co., Intel Capital, and PCG Ventures.

— Phil Harvey, Senior Editor, Light Reading
http://www.lightreading.com