Israel-based E-band radio company Siklu closed its series B round on Tuesday, having raised $20m from investors including Qualcomm Ventures, the corporate venturing unit of fabless manufacturer Qualcomm, venture capital (VC) firm Amiti Ventures and an unnamed backer referred to by Siklu as a ‘category leading strategic investor’.
The round was made up by existing investors DFJ-Tamir Fishman Ventures, which acts as the Israel-based branch of VC group Draper Fisher Jurvetson, VC firm Evergreen Venture Partners and private equity fund Argonaut Private Equity.
DFJ-Tamir Fishman, Evergreen and Argonaut previously financed Siklu’s series A round, which raised $12m in April 2008.
Founded in 2008, Siklu constructs an Ethernet E-band radio, the silicon-based design of which enables it to be priced less expensively than its competitors. The funding will be used for expanding its backhaul product range to cutting-edge systems and its marketing to the US and India.
Nagraj Kashyap, vice president of Qualcomm Ventures, said: "Backhaul has become an important consideration for operators as they continue to expand their high-speed 3G networks and plan their 4G strategies. Siklu has taken a creative approach to this challenge with its miniature picocell architecture, giving operators a cost-effective means to bolster their backhaul capacity. We’re looking forward to working with Siklu."