MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. -- Stoke, Inc. exited stealth mode today andunveiled plans to deliver an IP service delivery platform built for converged fixed and mobilenetworks. The company is led by a world-class management team from some of the mostprominent names in IP and telecommunications infrastructure. The company alsoannounced it has secured $20 million in Series B funding in an oversubscribed round,bringing the total funding for the company to $30 million.

Investors in the Series B round include existing backers Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byersand Sequoia Capital, as well as new investors Integral Capital Partners, Pilot HouseVentures and Presidio STX, LLC.

Operators worldwide are moving towards a common IP service delivery environment, withthe objective of delivering mobile voice, data and video services in a consistent way,regardless of access technology. Significant challenges must be overcome to deliversecure and reliable “anyone anywhere” services with seamless mobility across fixed andwireless networks. Stoke’s IP service delivery platform uniquely addresses thesechallenges with a highly scalable, carrier-class solution.

“The economic necessities of fixed-mobile convergence are clear, and operators aremoving quickly to optimize and evolve their business models and networks,” said RyanJarvis, Chairman of the Fixed-Mobile Convergence Alliance. “This transformation requiresnew IP networking solutions designed specifically for network convergence and the mobilityof end users. Stoke is focussed on this significant market.”

The Stoke platform, currently in operator trials, transforms disparate networks into a singlevirtual IP network, simplifying service delivery and enabling personalized services over anyaccess network to any device. The architecture of Stoke’s platform meets the leadingworldwide industry standards, including 3GPP/IMS and 3GPP2/MMD, ETSI/TIPSAN andCableLab’s PCMM specifications. Stoke is targeting fixed and mobile operators as well asnew market entrants including VoIP providers. The Stoke platform will be generallyavailable in the first half of 2006.

“The real value of network convergence is enabling carriers to deliver services to users inthe most optimal way, wherever they happen to be at the time. To do this effectively,carriers must manage each user session individually, including all the appropriateconnectivity, security, QoS and mobility aspects,” said Randall Kruep, founder and CEO ofStoke. "This is creating a need for a whole new class of high performance IP servicedelivery platform. A solution is needed that can scale to support very large numbers ofdynamic, secure multimedia sessions and seamlessly mobilize those sessions acrossvarious access networks as people move or as carrier operational realities dictate.”

“We believe the future of communications is in wireless as the default connectivity forconsumers and enterprise users, and a critical step on the road to that eventuality is theintegration of today’s fixed and mobile networks – of all forms – into a single systemimage,” said Craig J. Mathias, a principal with the wireless and mobile advisory firmFarpoint Group (Ashland, MA). “A necessary element in this convergence is a uniform IPbasedenvironment capable of supporting a very broad range of applications – precisely thedirection Stoke has defined.”

Stoke Inc.