Xtera Communications, a start-up offering optical transport solutions for regional, long- haul and ultra-long-haul networks, named Jon R. Hopper as its new president and CEO. The company also appointed Paul Colan as its new CFO. Jon W. Bayless will continue to play a key role as company Chairman while resuming duties as a General Partner at Sevin Rosen Funds. Hopper was formerly Chief Executive Officer at Extreme Devices, Inc., IRSI, and Dynamotion. He also served as a Senior Vice President at Photon Dynamics and as a Group Vice President at Electro Scientific Industries. Colan has worked with Hopper as CFO at IRSI and Extreme Devices, and Director Finance at Photon Dynamics.
Xtera, which is based in Allen, Texas, also announced $30 million in a private placement Investors include New Enterprise Associates, Sevin Rosen Funds, ComVentures, and Star Ventures. The new funding will be used to deepen the global commercial presence of the company’s optical networking transport solutions.
In addition, Xtera has reduced the workforce at its headquarters in Texas by 36 people. The company said it plans to add operations around the globe, particularly in emerging markets like China and India. http://www.xtera.com
- In September 2003, Xtera Communications, a start-up based in Allen, Texas, has acquired the assets of privately-held Metro-OptiX, another start-up located in the same region. Metro-OptiX had developed a bandwidth manager for optical edge TDM, ATM, IP and MPLS services. The company had garnered 15 customers and 18 lab trials prior to the acquisition. Xtera’s Nu-Wave DWDM system is aimed at regional, long-haul and ultra-long-haul networks. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- In August 2003, Xtera Communications closed on $30 million of new financing for its Raman-based DWDM system.
- In February 2002, Xtera Communications unveiled a long-haul DWDM platform capable of supporting up to 240 wavelengths at 10 Gbps. The Nu-Wave system uses Raman amplification over a 100 nm spectrum to transmit up to 1500 km without electrical regeneration. Xtera is targeting system capacity of 2.4 terabits in three 7-foot by 12-inch deep bays, and believes that its product will offer long distance carriers a less expensive alternative to current DWDM platforms. The company also says that any in-line amplifier (ILA) site can be converted, in-service, to an optical add drop multiplexer (OADM) with no distance trade-off.
- Xtera was founded by Dr. Mohammed N. Islam, a tenured professor in Electrical Engineering at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.