Procera Picks Up $4.6M

Its not just VC-funded startups that are getting money at the moment. Teensy, publicly traded security vendor Procera Networks Inc. (OTC: PRNW), with a market cap of $36 million, has just bagged $4.6 million in strategic funding to support the development of its OptimIP devices.

Gary Johnson, Procera’s senior vice president of sales and marketing told NDCF that the money will be used to beef up the company’s sales and support operations and develop the OptimIP architecture.

However, he was less forthcoming on where the money actually came from, saying only that some “individuals, banks, and funds” were involved.

The Campbell, Calif.-based firm unveiled its first OptimIP devices, the 2402 SMB box and the 12012 enterprise product, last August (see Procera Launches OptimIP 12012 and Procera Intros Entry-Level OptimIP).

The devices, which can be deployed either at the core or the edge of a network, offer both security and application performance features, according to Procera. This includes denial-of-service protection and the ability to prioritize traffic as it flows across the network.But, despite its recent cash influx, Procera is still playing its technology cards close to its chest. Execs confirmed that new hardware versions of OptimIP will be available for evaluation in the first quarter of 2005, with a general launch scheduled for the second quarter of this year.

Johnson also told NDCF that Procera is currently in the process of rebranding the OptimIP product line. One thing that will not change, however, is Procera’s reliance on the indirect channel. Around 25 resellers have already been signed up, he says, and discussions are currently under way with 80 more.

The reseller route is a popular one for startup firms, with VARs providing smaller vendors with a greater reach than would be possible by selling directly to end users (see Swan Labs Picks Up Pivia).

The U.S. will now be divided up into six separate regions [ed. note: and about time!], and a sales manager will be appointed to each of these, according to Johnson. The manager will then be responsible for training resellers in the region. A similar strategy will be employed in Asia, Latin America, and Europe, he adds.

However, Johnson says that Procera will be careful not to recruit too many resellers, warning that end users get tired of being approached by a number of VARs touting the same product.Developing strong channel relationships is critical for Procera, which faces stiff competition from a variety of vendors. These range from networking giant Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CSCO) through to bandwidth management specialists Packeteer Inc. (Nasdaq: PKTR) and Allot Communications and security vendors Websense Inc. (Nasdaq: WBSN) and SurfControl.

So, who are the people behind Procera, and where has the company come from? A spinoff from networking firm Digi International, Procera was incorporated in 2002. The firm was founded by Doug Glader, the former COO of Digi International and co-founder of Greyhawk Systems, a manufacturer of electronic imaging hardware and software.

The firm’s CTO is Anil Sahai, the former CEO and founder of systems performance management firm Ezyte. Procera acquired Ezyte’s intellectual property last year.

Procera has around 26 employees, although the company is now planning to increase its workforce by a third, says Johnson.

— James Rogers, Site Editor, Next-gen Data Center Forum0