Entering the public network market, Sycamore Networks Inc. (Tewksbury, MA) was launched with plans for product roll-out in the first half of 1999. The company also announced closure of a $12-million second round of funding, bringing total funding to $20 million. Sycamore plans to develop and market "intelligent" optical-network products focused on relieving current network congestion at the backbone access areas. Sycamore was founded in 1998 and is privately held.