US-based broadband technology developer Tarana Wireless increased a funding round that includes satellite technology and services provider EchoStar to $88m yesterday, after raising $60m in an extension to the round.
EchoStar and venture capital firm Khosla Ventures supplied the new funding, adding to $28m Tarana had received in a first tranche led by 1010 Holdings, which function as the family offices of entrepreneur Greg Wyler, though Tarana did not reveal when that tranche closed.
Founded in 2009, Tarana has developed a fixed wireless broadband system known as G1 which avoids obstructions, interference and changing weather conditions by adjusting itself thousands of times per second.
The company will use the funding for product development, and to start commercial trials with a tier 1 operators. EchoStar chairman Charlie Ergen has now joined its board of directors along with Greg Wyler and Khosla Ventures partner Samir Kaul.
In addition to EchoStar’s participation in the round, Kranti Kilaru has stepped down from his executive vice-president position at EchoStar to take on the president role at Tarana.
Kilaru said: “Tarana’s national-scale tier-1 service provider engagements on multiple continents will demand careful attention to very high-volume and flawless business execution on top of their unrivalled technology foundation.”
Tarana has not disclosed precise details of earlier funding but said it has now raised almost $200m in total, from investors including telecommunications firms AT&T and Deutsche Telekom, private equity firm Blum Capital and four undisclosed private investors.
The company’s past fundraising does include $9.1m in equity financing in 2011 and $5m the following year, according to regulatory filings.