Xelerated Adds Veteran to BoardXelerated Adds Veteran to Board

CONCORD, Mass. -- Xelerated, the price/performance leader in network processing, today appointed Mr. G. Venkatesh as the new chairman of its board of directors. Mr. Venkatesh has over 25 years of experience in the semiconductor industry and a proven track record of building profitable, high growth businesses. The company also announced that it has raised another $10 Million in funding from its investors Atlas Venture, Alta Partners and Startupfactory.

"Xelerated impressed me with the unique attributes of its network processor technology, which are exceptionally suited to the needs of high volume Ethernet markets," says Mr. Venkatesh. "The company’s acquisition of several leading edge customers demonstrates its growing reputation in the industry. I welcome the opportunity to work with this exceptional team of talented individuals."

"I am very pleased to welcome Ven as our new Chairman of the Board," says Johan Börje, CEO of Xelerated. "His experience from Maverick and Broadcom will be a great asset and help accelerate our move towards market leadership for flexible, low-cost Metro and Enterprise solutions."

Mr. Venkatesh has served as President and CEO of Maverick Networks, a company he founded in 1998. In 1999, it was acquired by Broadcom, where he then worked as Vice President for Switching Products until November 2001. Prior to that, Mr. Venkatesh served as President and CEO of Silicon Light Machines, which was acquired by Cypress Semiconductor in 2000. Earlier, he spent ten years at Adaptec, Inc., as General Manager and Senior Executive Officer. Mr. Venkatesh now works as Managing Partner of Texan Ventures, a venture-capital and management consulting firm he founded in 2001. He also serves on the boards of several high technology companies.

"It has been a great pleasure to have served as Chairman of the Board during the initial stages of the company’s evolution," says Sven-Christer Nilsson, former chairman of the board of Xelerated. "Xelerated has taken an idea and turned it into a successful product. Now Ven’s knowledge and experience from the semiconductor industry and the US market in particular will be very beneficial for the company as it moves towards profitability." Mr. Nilsson will continue as senior adviser to the management and board.

The additional funding raised will allow the company to expand its sales and customer support organization. "Our commitment to Xelerated's success is strong, and we believe that with the recent funding the company can fully exploit its technology advantage and take a substantial share of the market as it now starts to pick up," says Gerard Montanus, Senior Partner at Atlas Venture.

Xelerated Inc.