TODAY, THE VCS ARE BEING A LOT MORE thorough in their due diligence. This includes getting confirmation from our customers that the product satisfies their unmet needs and that they will be buying from the startup, says Ashish Vengsarkar, Vice President of Product Marketing and Co-Founder of Photuris.

A developer of metro regional optical transport systems, Photuris, recently closed the first tranche of its Series C financing at $40 million with backing from Columbia Capital, Artiman Ventures and private investors. The company's total private capital raised to date is $105 million. It is the company's pragmatic approach that led Columbia Capital Partner to invest again.

Photuris was founded in January 2000. Its mission was to merge optical and Sonet networking infrastructure. Today the company's product, V32000, an optical distribution system for the interoffice network environment does exactly that. The product's integrated DWDM and Sonet technology provides facility to switch any wavelength to any port.

In its three-year history, the company has completed five lab trials with a set of cable multiple service operators (MSOs) and local exchange carriers. In addition, the company says that two independent local exchange carriers have started putting its gear through trials.

Photuris' recent financing provides additional resources for North American field trials and volume delivery of its Optical Distribution System. The company also intends to take on the big players: Cisco, Lucent and Nortel, who have similar product.

With the new round of funding, there have been management changes in this Piscataway, New Jersey-based company. Former Nortel Networks marketing executive Charles Childers has joined as its new CEO. Jim Lowrie, a sales veteran in North American carrier systems, has been appointed as Photuris Vice President of Worldwide Sales and Customer Service.

Hemant Kanakia and Amit Shah, who co-founded Photuris with Vengsarkar, are on the company's Board of Directors and provide strategic insights.