Public Occam Raises Private MoneyPublic Occam Raises Private Money

How strange are things these days? Well, you might want to take a look at Occam Networks Inc. (OTC: OCCM).

The public company, no longer listed on Nasdaq and now trading in the obscure over-the-counter market, raised $12 million in venture funding through a private placement of its Series A stock, the company said Wednesday.

The company went back to venture capital in order to remain liquid as it continues losing money. The funding was revealed in tandem with Occam's fourth-quarter and year-end earnings conference call, which may have set a new record for brevity, lasting a total of eight minutes [ed. note: One should not increase, beyond what is necessary, the number of entities required to explain anything. -- Occam's Razor].

While recapitalizing a company that trades in the over-the-counter market isn't exactly a first, it's a rare play for venture firms usually focused on Silicon Valley startups. Three venture capital firms -- Norwest Venture Partners, U.S. Venture Partners, and New Enterprise Associates (NEA) -- were among those chipping in for more Occam shares, according to filings Occam made with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Apparently, just because the company got some money doesn't mean the executives are in any mood to talk. After the conference call, Occam executives took the standard Regulation FD out -- citing SEC rules, they declined to answer questions regarding the number of people it employs, how many paying customers contributed to its revenues, and how many revenue-generating customers it has for its broadband loop carrier product [ed. note: cf. Occam's Razor].

During the brief call, most of which was taken up by the reading of SEC disclosures, Occam's executives said the company has increased revenue every quarter since its December 2001 merger with Accelerated Networks (see Occam's Merger).

Occam reported an actual loss of about $6.3 million on fourth-quarter revenues of $1.3 million in its earnings press release. The company lost about $32.7 million on revenues of about $2.4 million for the full year 2002.

— Phil Harvey, Senior Editor, Light Reading