Tarana Wireless, a start-up based in Milpitas, California, raised $50 million in an up round for its next-generation fixed wireless access (ngFWA) platform.
Since launching its G1 in late 2021, Tarana reports deployments by more than 270 service providers in 19 countries, and in 41 of the 50 states in the US. Revenues in G1’s first full year of sales (2022) were nearly $100M, and orders plus sales continue to climb in 2023. These strong business fundamentals drove a 40% year-over-year increase in the company’s valuation.
The funding round was led by Digital Alpha. Rick Shrotri, Founder and Managing Partner at Digital Alpha, explained, “As we developed our wireless ISP investment thesis, we became aware of Tarana’s breakthrough technology, and each operator’s story underscored how ngFWA is fundamentally changing network performance and operator economics. Tarana’s G1 platform supplies the key missing ingredient in enabling wireless ISPs to offer highly competitive broadband, take share, and grow value in their businesses — at a months-not-years deployment pace competitive technologies just cannot match.”
In addition to traditional equity investments into wireless Internet services providers, Digital Alpha is also offering a novel revenue-share financing solution to Tarana customers looking to expand their deployments of G1. Digital Alpha’s deep domain and industry expertise makes them uniquely suited to fund infrastructure deployments that are bridging the digital divide and enabling connectivity transformations across local communities. To date, Digital Alpha has funded existing Tarana customers such as Element 8 and Wisper ISP and is looking forward to partnering with Tarana to offer its funding model in pursuit of new market opportunities and additional wireless internet service providers.
Tarana CEO Basil Alwan noted, “Digital Alpha knows our customers’ business intimately, which has provided early insights into ngFWA and the momentum building in our business. This investment along with those in our customers makes them a natural and great partner. Our rapid growth has created more opportunities along with higher working capital requirements; this financing will play an essential role in maintaining our trajectory, supporting our customers’ continued growth, and expanding our reach globally.”
