Vertical Networks funding reaches $119 million

Communications equipment maker Vertical Networks announced Monday it closed its sixth round of funding with a $15 million investment that brings the total for the round to $64 million and the company's total funding to $119 million. New investors for the round include financial services firm Household International, which is also one of Vertical's major customers, as well as former investors Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Accel Partners, Integral Capital Partners and others. Vertical announced an initial sixth-round investment of $49 million in May 2000 led by Levensohn Capital Management, and the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based firm also closed its $30 million fifth round in May of 1999, which was headed by Technology Crossover Ventures. The company makes communications equipment for branch offices of larger firms or small businesses numbering up to 180 people. The box can handles the communication tasks of an office including voice, Internet and data connections. For example, it receives incoming voice and data traffic from high-speed phone lines and routes it to the appropriate destination within the business. Vertical regards Cisco Systems, Avaya and Nortel Networks as competitors.