NEC Eluminant Technologies Adds $5 Million To Funding

CHANTILLY, Va., Feb. 18 -- NEC Eluminant Technologies Inc. said it has finalized a funding agreement with Yasuda Enterprise Development Co. Ltd. to support eLUMINANT's growth in fiber-based broadband products and services.

Yasuda Enterprise Development Co., Ltd. is one of the largest venture capital companies in Japan. Its investment of $5 million in eLUMINANT, in addition to investments of $26 million announced last fall, brings eLUMINANT's total Series A funding to $31 million over the past four months.

"We're very pleased that Yasuda shares our vision for the future of optical networks and the development of passive optical network technology," said David Montanaro, chairman and CEO of eLUMINANT. "We see significant interest in our technology from carriers around the globe, and this funding will help us leverage these opportunities."

eLUMINANT is developing a optical access network ("last-mile") equipment that will enable telecommunications carriers to provide high-bandwidth data, voice and video to their business and residential subscribers. eLUMINANT was spun off from NEC in 1998 to develop products that address the demand for high-speed broadband communications worldwide.