Financier Dermot Desmond and venture firm Kernel Capital are among investors to have pumped €22m into Dublin-based telecoms equipment supplier Intune Networks, it was announced today.
The investment was secured by the company in its most recent funding round and is the largest private equity investment in the global telecoms optical equipment sector in 2009. It is also the largest private equity investment round in the European telecoms equipment sector and the third largest in the European IT sector this year.
“We received an extremely positive response to our recent fundraising road show and are delighted to have brought new investors, Dermot Desmond and Kernel Capital on board, as well as securing additional support from our existing investors and both governments, north and south of the border, “ said Intune Networks CEO Tim Fritzley.
Founded in Dublin in 1999 by UCD graduates John Dunne and Tom Farrell, Intune is focussed on the telecoms equipment market and specifically the area of internet switching, where it is developing network architectures to cope with the massive increase in unpredictable online traffic.
Intune currently employs 120 people and has design centres in Dublin and Belfast.
“We are firmly of the view that Intune Networks has developed a disruptive technology that will change the way that telecommunications services are delivered,” Mr Desmond said.
“I’m also delighted to have the opportunity to invest in an Irish company that has developed such a ground breaking technology. More innovation of this kind will help to reinvigorate the North and South economies.”
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