Monday, July 30, 2007


SANTA CLARA, Calif., Jul. 30, 2007 (Business Wire) -- BridgeWave Communications, the leading supplier of gigabit wireless solutions, has secured $7.8 million in Series 3 financing. The funding round includes existing investors plus the additions of SDL Ventures and Intel Capital.

BridgeWave will use the proceeds for the expansion of sales, marketing, service and manufacturing functions to meet the escalating demand for its gigabit wireless solutions. BridgeWave has deployed thousands of wireless gigabit radios for inter-building LAN extension as well as network operator high-capacity access and backhaul services. BridgeWave will utilize the funds to help achieve its goal of widespread adoption for the company's solutions for 4G/WiMAX mobile infrastructure deployments.

According to Amir Makleff, president and CEO of BridgeWave, the Series 3 financing will reinforce the company's ability to address existing and evolving requirements for wireless GigE connectivity. 'The proliferation of bandwidth-intensive applications -- and the emergence of high-speed, 4G networking -- are driving unprecedented demand for BridgeWave's products,' he says. 'This latest round of financing will ensure that BridgeWave is well positioned to capitalize on these emerging market opportunities. We are thrilled to welcome SDL Ventures and Intel Capital as new investors to support and sustain strong business growth.'

BridgeWave's 60 GHz and 80 GHz links, which offer 10 times the bandwidth of comparably priced 100Mbps Ethernet wireless solutions, have been implemented by Fortune 500 companies; major healthcare providers; multiple city, state and federal government agencies as well as a growing number of wireless and fixed-line network operators.

'The availability of high-capacity wireless backhaul is a strategic enabler for the large-scale deployment of 4G/WiMAX access networks,' says David Flanagan, director of mobile communications for Intel Capital. 'BridgeWave's gigabit wireless products are well-positioned to address these emerging infrastructure bandwidth requirements.'

In related news, BridgeWave also announced that former Juniper Networks executive Peter Wexler has joined the company's board of directors. Wexler, who has held key executive engineering positions at both Juniper and Bay Networks, brings to the board extensive experience providing networking solutions to both the enterprise and operator markets.

With the largest installed base of GigE radios worldwide, BridgeWave recently broadened its portfolio with a series of new product introductions. In April, the company announced a new family of extended range 80GHz links that deliver up to 'five nines' link availability over multi-mile distances. In May, BridgeWave launched a line of field upgradeable bridges for seamless migration from 100Mbps to GigE bandwidth. Earlier this month came the announcement of the first, built-in GigE wireless encryption for enhanced data and management security.

About Intel Capital

Intel Capital, Intel's venture capital organization, makes equity investments in innovative technology start-ups and companies worldwide. Intel Capital invests in a broad range of companies offering hardware, software, and services targeting enterprise, home, mobility, health, consumer Internet, semiconductor manufacturing, and cleantech. Since 1991, Intel Capital has invested more than U.S. $6 billion in approximately 1,000 companies in over 40 countries. In that timeframe, about 157 portfolio companies have gone public on various exchanges around the world and another 187 have been acquired by other companies. In 2006, Intel Capital invested about US $1.07 billion in 163 deals with approximately 60 percent of funds (excluding Clearwire) invested outside the United States. For more information on Intel Capital and its differentiated advantages, visit www.intelcapital.com.

About BridgeWave Communications

Founded in 1999, BridgeWave Communications is the leading supplier of Gigabit Ethernet outdoor wireless connectivity solutions. The company's exclusive AdaptRate(TM) technology and Forward Error Correction capabilities deliver the highest availability at the longest distances for full-rate GigE solutions. BridgeWave's point-to-point, fixed wireless solutions are ideally suited for a wide variety of enterprise, service provider, healthcare, education, public safety and government/military network applications. With the largest installed base of GigE radios worldwide, BridgeWave delivers the highest levels of product quality and reliability. For more information, visit www.bridgewave.com.

Newstex ID: BW-0001-18513671


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