February 1, 2005
Codenomicon raises 2.8 million EUR
Codenomicon Ltd. announced today that it has secured its first round of financing led by two leading European venture capital firms, Eqvitec Partners and Prime Technology Ventures. The total investment is 2.8 million euros (3.6 million USD).
Codenomicon is a leading developer of innovative products for information security. Codenomicon products are intended for testing the reliability of security-critical products and systems. Current customers include developers and enterprise customers who require absolute dependability for their products and networks. Codenomicon was founded in 2001, and is based in Oulu, Finland.
"Our goal at Codenomicon is to ensure that the industry can provide reliable and dependable critical infrastructure. Codenomicon has always focused on steady organic growth, and Codenomicon has reached its goals for product development and sales. Although we have always been profitable, we saw that with the help of external funding we could change gears and target even faster growth in the future", said Ari Takanen, CEO and co-founder of Codenomicon Ltd.
With help from the new investors, Codenomicon aims to grow into an international market leader in information security and reliability testing tools. This is expected to be a new, fast-growing market as the industry continues to demand more secure and dependable systems. During the past year over 60% of the total turnover of Codenomicon came from North America.
"Codenomicon has proven that it can serve the world's largest manufacturers of communication products and can help them solve software security problems. Codenomicon is a good example of an innovative software company with strong roots in Finnish research. This funding will help the company to establish a strong presence in the US", said Jussi Hattula, Investment Director for Eqvitec Partners who will join the Board of Directors of Codenomicon.
"We have been very impressed with the deep knowledge the Codenomicon team brings to the testing space. They solve an immediate & growing problem by securing the robustness of software, products and communications across multiple platforms and industries. The blue chip customer base is an early indicator of the company's potential in becoming a category leader. We look forward to helping the company expand internationally and building a great company", said Sandeep Kapadia, Investment Director for Prime Technology Ventures who will also join the Board of Directors.
Codenomicon test tools automate the process of testing information systems and software components for their tolerance against unexpected inputs such as network-based attacks. Codenomicon test tools are used to improve the quality of software and to support customer-driven product evaluation, certification and acceptance testing of communication software. The testing is conducted using a black-box method at the customers' own premises, and by the customers themselves.
The users of Codenomicon test tools benefit from reduced product development costs, and from avoiding costs related to software security incidents. The expenses that result from fixing software after a fault has been discovered can prove enormous compared to the resources needed for proactive prevention.
Codenomicon products include tools for testing the reliability of 3G networks, Voice-over-IP systems, availability-critical encryption services, Internet core protocols and routing infrastructure