Sunnyvale, CA — (press release excerpt) — MontaVista Software today announced that it has secured approximately $28 million in its third round of funding. New investors include IBM and Sony Corporation. Previous investors — US Venture Partners, Alloy Ventures, Intel Capital, RRE Ventures, and WR Hambrecht & Co. — also contributed to this funding round. The total investment in MontaVista Software, since it was formed in 1999, is now more than $60 million.

MontaVista also announced that the next generation of the company's flagship product, to be announced next week, will be called MontaVista Linux, instead of Hard Hat Linux. All other future products will also be renamed to reflect the MontaVista brand.

“MontaVista revenues increased 250 percent over the past year. We achieved more than 250 customer design wins, of which more than 50 percent are with Fortune 100 and Global 500 corporations,” said Jim Ready, MontaVista Software CEO. In addition, the company reports that during the past year, its larger customers renewed their annual product subscriptions at rates exceeding 115 percent of their original purchase.

“The ability to secure additional funding in a tight market highlights MontaVista's two-year record of impressive growth and sustained momentum,” added Ready. “We are thrilled that this round of funding includes a number of top-tier venture capital firms and leading technology companies across key industry segments.”

“MontaVista has demonstrated that its product subscription based business model is valid and successful even as other embedded software companies, especially in the Linux space, continue to struggle,” said Jim Ready, CEO of MontaVista Software. “The embedded Linux market is growing at a rapid pace. We expect to see Linux becoming the platform of choice for carrier-grade applications in telecommunications. We also predict the burgeoning use of Linux in name-brand digital consumer electronics.”

During 2001, MontaVista established new alliances and expanded strategic relationships with semiconductor vendors including Toshiba, Hitachi, IBM, Intel, ARM, MIPS, Alchemy Semiconductor and Tensilica, and with embedded software suppliers such as Trolltech and IBM. In addition, the company added several Global 500 corporations to its list of customers, including Ericsson and Nokia.

MontaVista will use the additional round of financing to help fuel its engineering, support, marketing and sales capabilities. Specifically, it will continue to enhance the MontaVista Linux family of products to take advantage of significant new market opportunities for embedded Linux.

MontaVista CEO Jim Ready (left) and mascot (right)

 
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