sentitO nabs another two rounds, adds two execs

Softswitch vendor sentitO Networks is making a bit of a comeback today with the announcement that it has raised a total of $28.5 million in two new funding rounds.

The two rounds include a Series C round of $19 million, which has closed recently, led by Kodiak Venture Partners and a soon-to-be-closed D round of $9.5 million led by Core Capital Partners. The new money brings sentitO’s total funding up to $53.5 million.

The new cash infusion, which is earmarked for ongoing operations, comes at a time when the vendor is facing a competitive landscape that has been reshaped by numerous acquisitions. At the same time, sentitO is just hitting the market with its newly re-christened Open Network Xchange softswitch and ElasticEdge technology that puts greater emphasis on bringing new applications to the carrier market.

"As the market has matured and voice over IP is a technology that people are focusing on, we think sentitO’s technology advantage starts to shine through," said William Flanagan, vice president of marketing. "We’re putting ourselves in position to really make a run at the market in 2005."

Among the largest opportunities, Flanagan said, are the emerging competitors who are coming to market with a combined wholesale/retail model.

"Whether you like it or not, you’re going to be dragged kicking and screaming into that market," he said. "I would expect to see through the third and fourth quarter an increase in activity in that area."

In a separate announcement, the company has appointed Rajesh Tyagi as senior vice president of product management and customer engineering, and Tony Zacher as vice president of manufacturing. Tyagi was most recently chief strategy officer and vice president of Excieo Systems. Prior to that he was vice president of product management and customer service at Pelago Networks. Zacher comes to sentitO from CopperCom, where he has served as vice president of operations.