Straitshot Lands Second Round

Straitshot Communications, a Bellevue, Wash.-based provider of WAN and broadband services optimized for VoIP, video and real-time applications, has raised $5.5 million in Series B funding from Claritage Capital.

PRESS RELEASE

Straitshot Communications(R), a national provider of Wide Area Network (WAN) and broadband services optimized for VoIP, video and real-time applications, today announced that it closed $5.5MM in series B funding from Claritage Capital.

Straitshot revenues grew more than 400% last year due to the strong demand for VoIP in the SMB market, and will use this new capital to build out its core network infrastructure, strengthen its customer support operations, expand sales and marketing efforts, and fund additional engineering efforts to deliver the highest quality private networking services to customers across North America.

“This round of funding validates Straitshot's unique position in the marketplace and recognizes our technology solution as leading-edge for optimization of VoIP, video and real-time applications,” said Bob Hogan, chairman and CEO of Straitshot Communications. “As VoIP-capable hardware replaces legacy equipment, suppliers and customers are realizing there is a bottleneck in the network and there are not enough affordable solutions available for small and medium size businesses. This round of funding strategically positions us to gain significant market share in this grossly underserved sector.”

“The increasing demand for VoIP services and applications among small business is driving a need for inventive solutions that increase the performance and security of this technology,” said Andrew S. Gold, director, Claritage Capital and new board member of Straitshot Communications. “Because Straitshot provides an 'intelligent' network solution that addresses these business issues, and couples it with a smart management team with a solid track record for success, we believe the company is poised for rapid growth in the coming years.”

Straitshot Communications created the first network designed from the ground up for the SMB market to address the challenges of running and sharing data, VoIP, video and real-time applications on a single network.

Straitshot provides a fully managed network service that enables enterprises to securely share mission critical data, voice and video applications between multiple locations without touching the Internet.

 

Unlike Frame Relay and Internet VPNs, Straitshot guarantees priority for voice calls over all other data traffic on the network, end-to-end.

The Straitshot network is currently offered by both hosted VoIP Service Providers and Channel Partners that deliver IP Telephony systems from leading manufacturers. Straitshot has more than fifty channel partners throughout North America leveraging its network to deliver guaranteed voice quality for customer deployments of VoIP systems from Avaya, 3Com, Cisco, Inter-Tel, Toshiba, NEC, ShoreTel and others.

About Straitshot Communications

Specifically built to meet the demanding requirements of VoIP, Straitshot is redefining the Wide Area Networking market by providing the first fully managed network service that enables enterprises to securely share mission critical data, voice and video applications between multiple locations without touching the Internet. Straitshot's Intelligent Private Network architecture eliminates the performance and security concerns that come with public or semi-public networks. Industry leaders such as Bag N'Baggage, Pet's Choice, and RW Beck rely on Straitshot because they can be assured that the service will meet their needs today and into the future.

About Claritage Capital

Claritage Capital (“Claritage”) is a private equity fund organized to capitalize on selective investment opportunities in the U.S. and the Pacific Rim. Claritage seeks to achieve significant long-term capital appreciation through a flexible investment strategy designed to capitalize on the most compelling opportunities available, while adding and creating value through its investment, finance and management expertise. Claritage is based in New York City and Tokyo.