Cidera receives $75 million

LAUREL, Md. -- Cidera, Inc. received $75 million in Series D preferred stock funding from a group of new and existing investors led by Wheatley Partners. This brings the total financing that Cidera has raised to date to more than $137 million.

Cidera's new investors include Berger Funds, Grupo Pegaso (Mexico), meVC Draper Fisher Jurvetson Fund I, Munder NetNet Fund, National Investors Group (National Bank of Kuwait), Rare Medium Group Inc., Trans Cosmos (Japan) and Wheatley Partners.

Also taking part in this round are Cidera's existing investors, including The Carlyle Group, GE Equity, Institutional Venture Partners, Investor AB, MCI Worldcom Venture Fund, New Enterprise Associates and others.

"Cidera is unique in its space because it has established customers, proven products and a deployed global broadcast network," said John Grillos, chairman, CEO and managing member of the meVC Draper Fisher Jurvetson Fund I. "Cidera has translated its pioneering Internet technology into a leadership position in broadband content delivery and continues to exploit new opportunities in this field."

Cidera plans to use the new capital to fund the growth of its domestic and international customer base, the innovation of new products and services, and the continued deployment of its global Internet broadcast network.

"We are pleased to have attracted such high quality investors from around the globe who join our existing shareholders in fueling Cidera's growth," said Richard J. Hanna, Cidera president and chief executive officer. "In the past year, we have grown our base of content, ISP and enterprise customers, making Cidera the leading global Internet broadcast platform. This funding is a testament to our successful execution and validates the attractive growth opportunities in the broadband content delivery market."