Icera secures $70 Million in funding

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Bristol: Icera, a wireless soft modem company, has secured $70 million in new financing. Of this, while a total of $60 million will be provided as new equity by current investors with the company including Atlas Venture, Balderton Capital, Accel Partners, Amadeus Capital Partners and 3i, $10 million of debt financing has been provided by ETV Capital SA and MMV Financial. Icera's HSPA silicon and software has been selected by several major mobile operators and product companies supplying the fast-growing mobile broadband market and the $70 million will fund Icera's business plan to profitability as it steps up its supply of cellular chipsets and software to customers in Europe, North America and Asia. "Mobile broadband is a category that is fundamental to mobile operators' growth strategies," commented Graham O'Keeffe, General Partner at Atlas Venture. "Icera's chipsets and software are instrumental in transforming the performance and economics of mobile broadband for all 3G operators, enabling broad-based consumer adoption." Icera is also taking steps to rationalize its facilities and costs in a number of areas and is reorganizing its business to sharpen its focus on current customer programs. These cost cuts will include reductions in staff numbers.