Systems/Enterprise:
$12.5M RESEARCH FUNDING SECURED FOR GRID
CLUSTERS
Key Research Incorporated announced it has completed
a Series B financing of
$12.5M. Co-leading the round are top-tier venture
firms Charles River Ventures
and Enterprise Partners Venture Capital. Fortune
100 leaders ChevronTexaco
Technology Ventures and the Dow Employees Pension
Plan also participated as
new investors.
These investors join existing
investors CMEA Ventures and Skymoon Ventures,
who also participated in the
Series B. Key Research will use the funds to
complete the development of its
innovative server product line and to formally
launch the company and its
initial products later this year.
Dave Newman of Charles River
Ventures and Robert Conn of Enterprise
Partners Venture Capital have joined
the company's board of directors. They
join existing board members Jim Watson
of CMEA Ventures and Tom McWilliams,
CEO and CTO of Key Research.
Key
Research is a new computer systems company that plans to dramatically
improve
total server cost of ownership. Key Research is designing and
engineering
high-performance 64-bit server computer systems optimized for use
in Linux
grid clusters. Key Research has a new, innovative approach to
building
high-performance servers, specifically designed for larger grid
cluster users
who are concerned about the economics of server computing.
"Attracting
these top investors in one of the toughest funding environments
is a strong
endorsement of our team and our product strategy," said Tom
McWilliams, CEO
and CTO of Key Research. "Our innovative approach to
building high-performance
64-bit servers will set a new standard for total
cost-of-ownership and
revolutionize the way people think about building
large Linux-based grid
clusters."
Key Research was founded by a team of highly experienced
computer industry
veterans from leading companies such as Sun Microsystems,
Silicon Graphics,
Amdahl, and Hewlett-Packard.
"The quality,
experience and proven track record of the founding team is what
attracted us
to Key Research." said Robert Conn, managing director at
Enterprise Partners
Venture Capital, "But their unique approach to high-performance grid cluster
computing and to revolutionizing total cost-of-ownership is what sets them
apart from all of the existing computer industry
players. They clearly have
spent a great deal of time listening to potential
customers."
"Key
Research has a new vision for high-performance servers -- one that is
not held
hostage by a legacy architecture. Their servers will be an ideal
fit to a
significant number of computing problems," said Dave Newman,
partner, Charles
River Ventures.
"Their approach to server design should dramatically
expand the market for
Linux-based grid clusters. Applications that still
require expensive
symmetrical multiprocessor servers will be able to migrate
to a low-cost grid
clustered server architecture for the first time."
Key
Research will announce more details about the company and its products
later
in 2003.
About Key Research Inc
Key Research is a
privately-held company based in Palo Alto, CA. Founded in
July 2001 by a
highly regarded team of computer system industry veterans,
Key Research is
designing and engineering high-performance 64-bit server
computer systems
optimized for use in Linux grid clusters. Key Research has a
new, innovative
approach to building servers. These servers are designed
for larger grid
cluster users who are concerned about the overall economics of
server
computing.
About Enterprise Partners Venture Capital
Enterprise Partners Venture Capital is a San Diego based venture capital
firm
founded in 1985 and organized to invest in privately held early stage and
emerging growth companies. The funds under active management now exceed $1
billion of capital. EPVC has been forging successful partnerships and
demonstrating superior management guidance and growth performance.
This has made it the largest venture capital firm in Southern California
and
has placed it in the top quartile of venture capital firms in the United
States. Enterprise Partners has developed an investment practice based upon
partners with deep domain expertise, enabling it to invest in disruptive
technologies with strong competitive barriers while working diligently and
directly with extraordinary entrepreneurs and companies. EPVC has a strong
regional franchise while its history and involvement in the VC world has led
to its national reputation.
About Charles River Ventures
Founded in 1970, Charles River Ventures (CRV) is one of the nation's oldest
and most successful early-stage venture capital firms with $2 billion under
management. CRV is dedicated to helping exceptional entrepreneurs turn their
ideas into the next category leaders in the data communications and software &
services sectors. To build these companies, CRV provides entrepreneurs with
access to a unique combination of financial backing, operations expertise and
strategic business services. Over the past 10 years, CRV funds have ranked
among the industry's top performers. CRV has offices in Boston, MA and Menlo
Park, CA.
About CMEA Ventures
CMEA Ventures is a venture
capital firm specializing in Life Sciences and
Information Technology
investments, investing in both early and late stage
companies. CMEA actively
partners with our extended network of companies,
other venture capital firms,
institutional investors, strategic partners
and entrepreneurs. CMEA typically
leads or co-invests in technology
companies with new products that provide
their customers at least an order
of magnitude improvement in mission critical
areas such as cost and
performance. CMEA Ventures currently has 5 funds
and
manages one half billion dollars of venture capital.
About Skymoon
Ventures
Skymoon Ventures is a venture capital firm based in Palo
Alto, California. In
addition to helping entrepreneurs transform good ideas
into great companies,
they also generate business plans in-house, recruit
teams to execute them, and
nurture these companies as they grow. With a
particular focus on
semiconductors and telecommunications infrastructure,
Skymoon Ventures helps
entrepreneurs create products and businesses with
lasting value.
About ChevronTexaco Technology Ventures
ChevronTexaco Technology Ventures, a unit of ChevronTexaco, is involved
with
identifying, investing and commercializing new and emerging technologies
that
have the potential to enhance the performance of our current
ChevronTexaco
businesses and lead to new growth opportunities.
We
encourage innovation through venture investing, business development and
commercialization. ChevronTexaco is a global energy company, based in San
Ramon, Calif, with a leading-edge venture capital group established to make
equity investments in early startup-stage, new technology companies.
About the Dow Employees Pension Plan
The Dow Employees Pension
Plan is the pension plan for the Dow Chemical
Company. They are an active
venture capital investor with a sizeable
Limited Partnership and direct
investment portfolio. The Dow Employees
Pension Plan has developed a
proprietary in-house methodology to enable
them to participate in what are
considered to be companies leading in their
respective fields.
http://www.crv.com
http://www.epvc.com
http://www.dow.com/venture
http://www.chevrontexaco.com/technology/ventures
http://www.cmeaventures.com
http://www.skymoonventures.com
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