Celox Networks

Celox Networks was established in January 1999 by founder Curtis Davis and operated as a provider of IP service creation switches. The company was headquartered in Southborough, Massachusetts, and focused on developing equipment for the telecommunications sector. Celox Networks successfully raised a total of $155 million in venture capital over three funding rounds. The initial Series A funding in June 1999 brought in $7 million, led by Apex Venture Partners and Bay Partners. This was followed by a $68 million Series B round in May 2000 and a substantial $80 million Series C round in July 2001, led by Putnam Investments and Firsthand Capital Management. Notable investors across its funding stages included Goldman Sachs, TPG, ABS Ventures, and IBM.

The firm's core business was centered on providing carrier-class IP service creation switches to network operators. Its target clients included large service providers such as carriers, ILECs, ISPs, and cable operators. The business model was based on selling this specialized hardware to telecom carriers for use in urban communications networks. The product, the Celox SCx 192, was an edge aggregation and IP service switch designed to help carriers organize data traffic flowing between long-haul networks. This equipment enabled network operators to create new revenue-generating services over existing connections. Key features included traffic prioritization, bandwidth management, security for shared IP infrastructure, and verification for service level agreement performance. The switch was developed to deliver up to 80 Gbps of throughput and support a high density of network interfaces.

Despite significant investor backing and having its equipment in lab trials with major carriers like AT&T, Celox Networks was unable to secure any customers and generate revenue. The company's plans to achieve positive cash flow by the second half of 2002 did not materialize due to a sharp downturn in capital spending by telephone companies. Faced with the inability to sustain operations without income, Celox Networks closed its doors in December 2002 after exhausting its $155 million in funding. A last-ditch effort to raise an additional $45 million failed, with the company only securing a fraction of that amount before shutting down.

Keywords: IP service switch, edge aggregation, telecom equipment, network operators, venture capital, carrier-class, bandwidth management, data traffic, service creation, deadpooled