Broadjump collects carrier investment

Broadjump, the Austin, Tex.-based developer of broadband residential service software, has lured $22 million in Series C funding from SBC Venture Capital, BellSouth and Nortel Networks, among other sources.

The company sees the strategic investment by two Bell companies as a commitment by these firms to invest in improving service support for broadband access, said Adam Chibib, founding partner and chief financial officer at Broadjump

“It’s very gratifying to see two carriers investing in something together. We feel that they share our vision, and believe that we are taking our broadband gateway solution beyond the drawing board,” said Chibib

The $22 million investment, which also includes dollars from earlier Broadjump investors such as Accel Partners and Austin Ventures, gives Broadjump total capital of about $47 million.

“This round was planned to get us toward profitability, and help us with our international expansion,” said Matt Tormollen, vice president of marketing at Broadjump. A smaller portion of the funding also will be used for future research and development.

Both SBC and BellSouth are Broadjump customers, and SBC is planning to hold a major broadband gateway trial in September “that will be a showcase for us,” said Tormollen.

SBC officials said they have faith in Broadjump solutions such as Virtual Truck Installer and Connection Manager as tools that take broadband from simple connectivity to an interactive service.