(Bloomberg) — Tarana Wireless Inc.’s valuation has more than doubled to $1 billion on the promise of technology that can beam broadband into homes with speeds that compete with fiber connections.
The lead investors in a $170 million round closed February were Axon Capital LP and growth funds at Khosla Ventures LLC and Prime Movers Lab LLC. They were joined by Kaiser Permanente, the Michigan state pension fund, and I Squared Capital Advisors.
Founded in 2009, Tarana’s earlier backers include satellite entrepreneur Greg Wyler, Liberty Global Plc, and Echostar Corp, led by telecom billionaires John Malone and Charlie Ergen respectively. It raised $50 million at a $450 million valuation last May.
“We’re fully funded, meaning we’re funded until we’re cash positive and then some,” said Chief Executive Officer Basil Alwan, a former Nokia Oyj executive, in an interview. “So the question is now going to be liquidity, and when is the right time for our investors to be a public company. I think it will be possible in 2023.”
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Because fiber optics usually carry the best connections in the densest urban places, and satellites are efficient for the most remote places, Tarana is targeting those in between: suburbs and big rural communities.
Its equipment is quick to install and can re-synchronize radio signals which would otherwise interfere with each other after bouncing around obstructions, Alwan said, meaning speeds of hundreds of megabits per second.
The Milpitas, California-based company has sold about 4,000 units and currently has customers including Britain’s BT Group Plc and South Africa’s MTN Group Ltd. It posted revenue of $10 million in the fourth quarter, up from zero in the first.
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