US-based passive optical networking (PON) system developer Tibit Communications closed a $25m series B round yesterday that was led by semiconductor and data technology producer Intel’s corporate venturing unit, Intel Capital.
Intel was joined by Swisscom Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of telecommunications firm Swisscom, and VC firm AJU IB Investment.
Tibit produces optical line terminal technology for the provision of networking coverage that enables PON functionality to be fit inside a transceiver optics case. It also means the management of a phone carrier’s PON can be virtualised inside its cloud architecture.
Dave Flanagan, senior managing director of Intel Capital, said: “The Tibit MicroPlug technology is a great example of the power of virtualisation.
“It provides more flexibility, higher density and lower cost by deploying PON in general-purpose ethernet switching equipment and management solutions, which can be entirely virtualised on Intel processor-based servers.”
The company secured the first $20m of the round in April this year, having raised $13.8m from undisclosed network operators and strategic investors in early 2017.
Image courtesy of Tibit Communications, Inc.
