Elemental Raises Another Round, Gains $13M in Series C Funding
Elemental Technologies announced today that it has raised another round of investment, totaling $13 million, from existing investors General Catalyst, Voyager Capital, and Steamboat Ventures, with this Series C round being led by Norwest Venture Partners (NVP).
"We are seeing traction across a number of geographies and vertical markets, and this funding allows us to accelerate expansion in these markets," said Sam Blackman, Elemental's chief executive officer."
Blackman said the investment terms were favorable and will allow Elemental to grow beyond its current market and product base.
"This investment also strengthens our balance sheet as we compete against companies many times our size for key accounts," said Blackman. "In addition, we will be expanding our product line, and the additional funding provides a backstop against which to aggressively move into other market verticals."
One market vertical -- enterprise streaming -- is an area where Blackman sees significant growth potential.
"While enterprise streaming isn't a significant revenue source to date, we see a number of enterprises actively considering the replacement of decade-old streaming solutions," said Blackman,
NVP, which led this funding round, was an early investor in Polycom and LifeSize, two videoconferencing companies that have large enterprise adoption rates.
When we covered Elemental's $9.5 million Series B funding round in July, 2010, we noted that Elemental still had additional capital in the bank from its Series A funding, and that revenues appeared to be on the rise. Blackman said this is still the case, that Elemental still has most of the Series B capital in the bank, and that the company is funding growth through revenues.
"Revenues have been growing rapidly enough that we've been able to make investments without burning through capital," said Blackman. "For instance, we opened a London office in the United Kingdom in April, 2012, and that office has already contributed to driving revenues, with Europe accounting for 20 percent of calendar year 2011 revenue."
Elemental also opened a Hong Kong office in February, 2012, and sees the additional funding as a way to beef up key personnel in both Asia and Europe.
"We haven't just hired sales people, but also support staff, including a combination of feet-on-the-ground in particular geographies, as well as a number of support staff in our London and Hong Kong offices," said Blackman
Blackman also said the company will be launching another product at The Cable Show, to be held in Boston on May 21, 2012. While Blackman wouldn't go into detail, he said the intent is to move beyond just providing core services to putting Elemental products closer toward end-user locations.
In a related note, Blackman said that Kevin O'Hara, who joined Elemental's board in January 2011 and has spent the last year learning the company, is the right person to move in to the board chairman role, as Elemental moves to separating that role from the CEO role.
Looking ahead, Blackman said his company is gearing up for the Olympics, as Elemental products have been chose for use in covering fifty countries for six major broadcasters. Blackman won't name the broadcasters but says that they are well-known in their respective geographies.
"We look forward to showcasing Elemental's technologies during the London Summer Olympic Games," said Blackman.
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