Envara raises $15.5m; round expected to total $20-25m

New investors from Japan and Taiwan participated in the round. Envara develops chipsets for local wireless networks.

Envara , which develops and markets solutions for the local wireless network market, announced today that it had raised $15.5 million in a third round of funding. NIF Ventures of Japan, and Taiwanese funds Hontung Ventures, Triton Ventures, and Paralink Ventures participated in the round, as well as investors from previous rounds including Gemini Israel Funds, Giza Group, Evergreen Partners, Koor STI Ventures, and Challenge-Etgar. Envara has received commitments from additional investors, and intends to expand the round shortly.

Envara president and CEO Izik Kirshenbaum told "Globes" that he expected money to come from European sources in the expanded round. He estimated that the round would grow to $20-25 million. Kirshenbaum pointed out the importance to Envara of the Asian investors, saying that most of Envara's customers were expected to be in the East Asian markets. He could not say with certainty whether US investors would participate in the round.

Giza Group founder and chairman Zeev Holtzman said that the Asian market was becoming a more and more important focus for Israeli companies, both as a target market for products, and for raising finance. He said that some of the new investors in Envara were also invested in Israeli funds that use these investors to increase the fund-raising capacity of their portfolio companies, through an indirect investment via the fund alongside a direct investment in the company.

Kirshenbaum added that Envara would start making sales in the second quarter of 2003, but that it already had development and collaboration agreements with future customers. The agreements relate to joint development on the basis of Envara’s chip.

Envara was founded in March 2000 by Gideon Barak, formerly CEO of DSPC and of Butterfly, and by Izik Kirshenbaum, who has twice won the Israel Defense Award. Envara is a fabless chip company that develops full chipsets compatible with the most popular wireless communications standards IEEE802.11a and IEEE802.11b. The company's target customers include PC and PC-Peripherals manufacturers, Wireless Networking ODM's / OEM's, and consumer electronics manufacturers. In previous financing rounds, the company has raised $16 million.

Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on 28 May 2002

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