In Flash-Based Servers, Edgeware Secures $8 million in Series B Financing

Edgeware AB, provider of flash memory based servers for network deployed delivery of TV and video services, has closed a $8 million series B round of funding led by new investor, Micron Technology with full participation from Edgeware’s Series A investors, Amadeus Capital Partners and Creandum Advisor.

The funds will be used to accelerate Edgeware’s increasing presence in the global market. In particular, it will strengthen the ambitions in the North American market where the company already has a number of key customers.

Edgeware provides server systems and associated technology for TV services over the Web and for TV on-demand services in Telco and cable network environments. Edgeware was founded in 2004 with the idea of merging delivery capability of on demand TV and video services into the service provider network, using highly efficient dedicated network appliances.

“We were attracted by Edgeware’s novel use of NAND flash memory as the sole storage in their demanding carrier applications, completely eliminating the use of rotating media,” said Ian Blasch, managing director of Micron Ventures, the venture arm of Micron Technology. “Rather than simply using off-the-shelf solid state disks or SSDs, they have developed a unique architecture around flash memory and that gives them a number of compelling advantages – performance being one of them.”

Different from competing products that are usually based on generic computer hardware, Edgeware’s servers are dedicated, highly efficient network appliances that are deployed in anything from central clusters to highly distributed architectures. Edgeware uses a combination of NAND flash memory storage and a hardware implemented data plane to obtain a solution which is highly reliable and by orders of magnitude smaller in footprint and power consumption.

“With this capital injection we are well positioned to actively expand our business, when many of our competitors are downsizing,” says Joachim Roos, CEO of Edgeware. “Our customers continue to invest in infrastructure for home entertainment. The fact that we manage to secure funding like this under current conditions in the financial sector sends a strong message.”