LEXINGTON, MA IronBridge Networks, Inc., a developer of optically based terabit routers, announced today it has received $52 million in new financing from new and existing investors. The company will use the new funds to bring it through the system integration phase of its terabit router development program and into customer beta trials. The company is in discussions with several leading IP networking service providers that have expressed interest in participating in beta trials this summer.

"This round of financing allows us to complete development of our optically based terabit router with its second generation features," said CEO Paul Lazay. "We are gratified by our discussions with service providers who have expressed their appreciation for the unique capabilities of our product and how those capabilities allow them to deliver advanced services to their customers."

IronBridge is now backed by $85 million in financing from venture, institutional and corporate investors, and guided by an executive team with decades of experience in routing, the Internet and the telecommunications industry. The participation of both new and existing investors in this round of financing indicates their confidence in IronBridge's future.

"IronBridge has assembled a team with the strongest credentials in optical networking and high performance routing of any company in this market segment," said Terance Matthews, IronBridge chairman.

IronBridge recently achieved important milestones that mark completion of hardware development for its first product release. This success and the continuing integration of system software with the hardware platform positions the company to enter the beta test phase of product introduction.

IronBridge's second generation, optically based terabit routers are ideally suited to telecommunications providers and Internet service providers (ISPs). Leveraging the power of optical networking technology, they have 25 times the capacity of today's electrical routers and handle trillions of bits per second in traffic. This new class of routers will enable service providers to build scalable and manageable networks that meet end user needs for high quality, reliable Internet services.

http://www.ironbridgenetworks.com