MEDIA RELEASE
13 Jun 2005
SOMA Networks Raises $50 Million in Financing
Led by Temasek Holdings and Morgan Stanley Venture Partners
SINGAPORE and SAN FRANCISCO, June 13, 2005 –
SOMA Networks, Inc., a leading provider of last-mile broadband wireless access
technology delivering multi-megabit broadband access and landline-quality voice
services, today announced that it has secured $50 million in late-stage funding.
Led by financial investors, Temasek Holdings Pte. Ltd.(Temasek), and Morgan
Stanley Venture Partners, including participation from NeoCarta Ventures, Inc.,
and Endeavour Investments Limited, this round of $35 million complements $15
million of strategic financing SOMA Networks closed in late 2004. The financing
has been earmarked for global expansion as the company continues to deliver
on numerous commercial contracts, network expansions, and the resulting growth
in both domestic and international operations.
“During the telecom downturn, SOMA Networks continued to invest heavily
in enhancing the company’s industry leading broadband wireless solution,”
said Pete Chung, Executive Director, Morgan Stanley Venture Partners. “The
company’s focus on developing a complete wireless system that meets and
exceeds customer expectations is driving impressive system performance and customer
traction now that the market for broadband wireless has heated up globally.
We were also impressed with SOMA Networks’ ability to support both WiMAX
and HSDPA standards on the same platform to service evolving customer demand
for standards-based solutions. ”
Temasek Holdings, a Singapore-based investment company, has significant presence
in the telecom industry with direct and indirect holdings in some of the largest
South-East Asian telecom companies in countries such as Singapore, Australia,
India, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Taiwan, Thailand, and Hong Kong.
“We look for investment opportunities that are synergistic with our portfolio
of investments. We are attracted to SOMA Network’s global opportunity,
strong intellectual property, and large market potential,” commented Dennis
Siew, Managing Director of Strategic Development at Temasek.
“We are pleased to have the financial backing of world-class partners
like Temasek Holdings and Morgan Stanley Venture Partners as we continue to
scale operations to serve the expanding global market,” said Yatish Pathak,
Founder and Chief Executive Officer of SOMA Networks. “With the strong
support of such distinguished financial institutions, SOMA Networks is well
capitalized for continued growth in our target markets, while enabling long-term
R&D initiatives to sustain and increase our technology lead.”
About SOMA Networks
Integrating the latest advances in wireless broadband, distributed computing,
and Internet technologies, SOMA Networks offers the industry’s leading
“last-mile” wireless broadband system. With the SOMAä solution,
service providers can quickly and profitably roll out a feature-rich package
of broadband Internet access and landline-quality voice service to the residential
and small-office market. Key advantages of the SOMA solution include its large
cell size for quick and inexpensive market entry, multi-megabit data rates,
voice capabilities, non-line-of-sight access enabling self-installation of the
SOMAport™ wireless broadband gateway, subscriber self-activation of services,
and the ability to support both WiMAX and HSDPA standards on a common platform.
Founded in 1998, SOMA Networks has development centers located in San Francisco,
California; Richardson, Texas; and Toronto and Ottawa, Ontario. For more information
about SOMA Networks, visit our website at www.somanetworks.com.
About Temasek Holdings
Temasek Holdings is an Asia investment company headquartered in Singapore. It
is committed to maximising long-term shareholder value as an active investor
and shareholder of successful enterprises. Established in 1974, it manages a
diversified global portfolio of US$54 billion, spanning Singapore, Asia and
the OECD economies. Its investments are in a range of industries: telecommunications
and media, financial services, property, transportation and logistics, energy
and resources, infrastructure, engineering and technology, as well as pharmaceuticals
and biosciences. Singapore-based Temasek-linked companies include well-known
listed firms such as Singapore Airlines, SingTel, DBS Bank, SMRT Corporation
and Neptune Orient Lines. Its investments overseas include ICICI Bank, Matrix
Laboratories and the Apollo Hospitals group in India; Bank Danamon and Bank
Internasional Indonesia in Indonesia; Quintiles Transnational Corp in the US;
Hana Bank in Korea; China Power International and China Minsheng Banking Corporation
in China; as well as Telekom Malaysia. For more information, please visit: www.temasekholdings.com.sg
About Morgan Stanley
Venture Partners
Morgan Stanley Venture Partners manages a group of private equity funds that
invest in high growth companies, concentrating on the information technology
and health care industries. Since its inception in 1986, Morgan Stanley Venture
Partners has managed over $1 billion of capital commitments and has invested
in over 140 emerging growth companies. For more information about Morgan Stanley
Venture Partners, please visit www.msvp.com.
Media Relations
Contact:
Adrienne Low
SOMA Networks
+1 415 882 6524
alow@somanetworks.com