Ohio: Comet Solutions has raised $4 million in series C round of equity funding led by current investor Athenian Venture Partners and comprises a syndicate including new investor Sun Mountain Capital, current investor Tri-State Growth Capital Fund and several other new individual co-investors.

Comet Solutions is a venture backed small business enterprise with primary offices in Cincinnati, Ohio and Albuquerque, New Maxico. Incorporated in 2001, the company was founded by Malcolm Panthaki and provides software applications that enable manufacturers to develop product development process. The high sales growth, new international distribution partnerships in key markets and an increase of its customer base have enabled the company to attract capital from an expanded set of investors.

Panthaki started his career as a CAE software engineer at an engineering consulting firm, after which he moved to ABAQUS in 1994. He provided software consulting services for several high-profile CAE projects at Sandia National Labs, NASA and other organizations where he helped them achieve greater use to stimulations, early and often in the product development process. Panthaki holds a BS in Civil Engineering from IIT, India, and an MS in Structural Engineering and Computer Graphics from Cornell Unviersity.

“Closing this round of financing is testimony to the strength of our customer and partner relationships, employees, and software solutions. This new capital ensures the company has the ongoing financial strength required to serve our customers for the long-term and continue to invest in innovative solutions which accelerate our growth as a key innovator and supplier in the PLM market,” says Dan Meyer, President and CEO of Comet Solutions.

Prior to this the company had raised $7 million in series A round of funding led by ITU Ventures, Fort Washington Capital, Partners Group and two others; and a series B round of funding for an undisclosed amount from Athenian Venture Partners.

“We observed Comet Solutions make tremendous progress since the time of our initial investment two years ago, as exemplified by the 150 percent increase in sales in 2011 over 2010. With its success in advancing Computer Aided Engineering, Comet Solutions aligns with our strategy to seek out companies with a sustainable vision, substantial intellectual property, deep management bench and unique products that provide effective solutions to acute business problems,” says Francois Helou, Senior Partner with Athenian Venture Partners.

The company plans to use the fund to expand resources and activities in sales and customer support teams, international distribution, product development and adding up new jobs.

Lee Rand, General Partner with new investor Sun Mountain Capital, added, “The company’s success delivering value to customers in high growth sectors, such as optics, and high growth geographies convince us that their software can he a game changer in the Product Lifecycle Management market. We are excited to invest in Comet Solutions and believe the company is poised for breakout growth.”