SPIT Player Raises $20M

Here's something you don't see too often in the Service Provider Information Technology (SPIT) world -- a relatively mature telecom software vendor raising new funds from the private equity community. (See The SPIT Manifesto.)

Vienna, Va.-based Telarix Inc. , which specializes in interconnect billing and management systems, as well as running an international business information exchange (iXLink), has secured a new $20 million round. (See Telarix Raises $20M.)

It's also got a new CEO: Former chief operating officer Glen Kazerman takes over from Don Lynch, who, after four years in the hot seat, has been handed a senior advisor role. Bizarrely, Lynch's biography on the Telarix Website doesn't even mention his tenure as CEO, during which the company boasted significant growth. (See Telarix Boasts 2008 Growth.)

The top-level switch has been driven by BBH Capital Partners and Edison Venture Fund, the investors that are stumping up the cash. The company's announcement today notes that Kazerman's promotion is linked to the new funding.

The company, formed in 1996, is well established in the interconnect systems sector, counting numerous Tier 1 carriers such as Deutsche Telekom AG (NYSE: DT), KDDI Corp. , Sprint Corp. (NYSE: S), Telefónica SA (NYSE: TEF), and Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) among its customers.

The new money, though, is to help develop iXLink, a global business information exchange set up specifically for communications service providers, which can use the platform to share pricing information, process invoices, set business rules for interconnect relationships, and check on price and service quality benchmarking data.

The exchange currently has more than 625 members, according to Telarix.

Telarix had not responded to questions about its revenues or profitability as this article was published.

— Ray Le Maistre, International Managing Editor, Light Reading

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