June 22, 2006 Livermore, CA -- Arcapita Ventures, the venture capital arm of Arcapita Bank BSC, has committed to an $8 million equity investment in GEPON vendor Alloptic Inc.
John Huntz, executive director of Arcapita Ventures, said, "Arcapita Ventures aims to construct a portfolio of investments consisting of growth-stage enterprises with established technologies and customer bases where we can combine our capital, network, and expertise with strong management teams to drive growth. Alloptic fits these criteria well and we believe it is an excellent addition to our emerging portfolio. The funds will be used to extend Alloptic's reach in the rapidly growing worldwide market for communications access solutions."
The financing marks the second investment by Arcapita Ventures.
Tom Hawkins, director of Arcapita Ventures, said, "As you look at the communications landscape today, the rapidly growing demand for triple-play services, combined with Alloptic's market-ready GEPON product line and portfolio of patents, creates a compelling venture capital investment opportunity. We believe the global market dynamics facing both carriers and access equipment vendors have created significant new customer opportunities for Alloptic as well as opportunities for developing key strategic partnerships to address emerging global markets."
As part of the financing, John Huntz and Tom Hawkins of Arcapita Ventures have joined Alloptic's board of directors.
"Arcapita's strategic support, combined with the firm's extensive global resources, will enable us to extend our leadership position and greatly enhance our ability to deliver high-value GEPON solutions to an even broader array of global customers. Alloptic continues to benefit from the increased demand for high-bandwidth services and the underlying Ethernet technology that enables those services efficiently and cost-effectively. As service providers around the world have taken steps to expand their service offerings, they have found that Alloptic offers the most proven, scalable multi-service platform capable of providing the services subscribers are demanding, including voice, data, video, and physical security services," said Ric Johnsen, president and CEO for Alloptic.
With over 65 customers worldwide and customers on every continent, Alloptic is well positioned to address the rapidly growing, $2 billion forecasted worldwide PON market, Arcapita believes. The vendor has four patents granted, including the patent for TDM services over Ethernet-based PON, and seven patents pending.