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Telecom Lead Team: Meritech Capital Partners and SingTel
Innov8, a subsidiary of the SingTel group, among others, have invested $21.7
million in Ruckus Wireless.
Ruckus Wireless announced that it has secured $21.7
million in financing, increasing the total investment in the company to $72.7
million since its formation in June 2004.
Ruckus will use the proceeds to expand and fund future
growth into the explosive carrier mobile Internet infrastructure market as well
as to bolster its rising position in the enterprise wireless LAN market.
The company named also two new industry luminaries,
Richard J. Lynch and Georges Antoun, to its board of directors.
“The addition of Dick and Georges to our board
validates our vision in Wi-Fi/cellular convergence and strengthens our execution
in the carrier Wi-Fi market. Dick and Georges represent the top caliber of our
industry in experience, technical, business and management savvy, as well as
relationships with operators and ecosystem partners. We are honored and excited
to have them on our team,” said Selina Lo, president and CEO of Ruckus
Wireless.
“We invest in companies with technologies that can
potentially enhance the capabilities of the operators within the SingTel Group
by delivering solutions across various product segments and verticals,”
said Jeff Karras, managing director of Investments for SingTel Innov8.
Former executive vice president for Verizon
Communications, Dick Lynch was responsible for delivering strategic technology
initiatives across the corporation. Previously, Lynch was executive vice
president and chief technology officer for Verizon Communications and had been
the executive vice president and chief technical officer for Verizon Wireless
and its predecessors since 1990. Lynch is a Fellow of The Institute of Electrical
and Electronic Engineers (IEEE). He has served on the executive board of the
CDMA Development Group (CDG), the board of GSMA, and as a member of the Federal
Communications Commission Technical Advisory Committee.
The former head of Ericsson’s product area IP &
broadband networks (PAIB) business, Georges Antoun joined Ericsson when it
acquired Redback Networks where he was head of sales and marketing and later
on, CEO. Previously, Antoun spent five years at Cisco Systems where he served
as vice president of worldwide systems engineering and field marketing, vice
president of worldwide optical operations, and also served as vice president of
carrier sales. Antoun was instrumental in the successful strategy behind
Cisco’s entry into the service provider and optical markets.
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