Compass-EOS funding round nets $42 million

Router startup Compass-EOS says it has closed a $42 million funding round. The round included participation from existing investors Comcast Ventures, Cisco, Pitango Venture Capital, Benchmark Capital, Northbridge Venture Partners, and Marker LLC. A U.S.-based private equity fund that Compass-EOS declined to identify and RUSNANO joined the round as new investors.

Compass-EOS has focused on large-scale routers in very small packages enabled via its silicon-photonics-based chip-to-chip interconnect technology, which it calls icPhotonics. This approach also reduces power requirements versus conventional routers while providing higher port density and capacity, the company asserts. It also enables customers to follow a building-block approach to routing resources, which it says is similar to the virtualized data center trend.

The company launched its first product, the r10004 router, this past March. NTT Communications (see "Compass-EOS names NTT Communications as first router customer") and CERNET are the company’s two announced customers, although company sources say there are more.

"Compass-EOS has an enormous market opportunity with the rapid growth of data services and online devices," said Gadi Bahat, CEO of Compass-EOS. "Our initial success with global network service providers has enabled Compass-EOS to raise considerable capital from leading investors around the world. We will continue to innovate while investing in customer support, sales and marketing, all of which are key elements for our future.”

The company also says it will “realign its workforce,” without explaining exactly what that means. “The strong vote of confidence from our investors and our refined company strategy further position Compass-EOS for global growth and success,” said Bahat by way of comment.

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