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SEQUANS
Communications Secures USD 9 Million in VC Funding
Funds accelerate launch of its WiMAX SoC
Paris, France – February 22, 2005 – SEQUANS Communications, a fabless
semi-conductor company in the 802.16/WIMAX space, today announced that
it has secured and closed €7 Million (approximately $9 Million) in its
Series B financing round from major Venture Capital firms. The round
was led by UK-based Add Partners, and co-led by Vision Capital, a firm
that specializes in Trans-Atlantic investments. Also participating in
this oversubscribed round were SGAM, the investment arm of French bank
Société Générale, and prior investors T-source and Cap Décisif.
Sequans is currently shipping its FPGA platforms and software,
enabling system vendors to start integration of Sequans' technology in
their products right away, and will be delivering for mid-2005
system-on-chip (SoC) for both base stations and subscriber stations.
It will be based on the IEEE 802.16-2004 standard, incorporating all
features required for initial WiMAX certification, as well as selected
optional features such as space-time coding, diversity combining, full
subchannelization, ARQ and real-time services. These features, along
with Sequans' optimized implementation, will enable true indoor
coverage, increased capacity, and applications such as video, VoIP, or
TDM backhauling; all this starting in 2005. Moving forward, Sequans
plans to deliver an 802.16e solution, designed both for the Korean
WiBro market and to support future mobile evolutions of WIMAX.
'In today's challenging financial environment, especially in the high
tech start-up sector, this investment is strong validation of Sequans'
market opportunity,' said Georges Karam, President and Chief Executive
Officer, Sequans. 'This round provides Sequans with the funding that
is vital to launching our 802.16-2004 /802.16e products and to execute
on our go to market strategy.'
'We believe in the disruptive potential of WiMAX to become a leading
access technology, especially as it evolves from fixed to portable and
mobile applications,' said David Ong, Investment Director, Add
Partners. 'Add Partners welcomed the opportunity to work with the
Sequans team to help take the Company to its next level of success.'
'We are pleased to have the opportunity to work with a team of such
high calibre,' said Dominique Pitteloud, Principal, Vision Capital.
'We are impressed by Sequans' innovative approach and the team's track
record of delivering high quality solutions on time.' |
