Overture gets $12 million for Europe, new products

Overture Networks secured $12.3 million in venture capital that the seven-year-old Morrisville telecommunications company plans to use to hire more sales reps and compete for customers in Europe.

The new investment is the third round of venture funding for Overture, a 47-employee company that makes high-speed networking equipment. Most of Overture's employees work in Morrisville.

Overture will use the money to expand marketing in Europe and develop new products.

Overture plans to expand to new markets at a time that company officials say sales in high-speed networking equipment is rebounding from an industry lull. The company previously raised $31.5 million.

"We need more sales staff to hit the carriers," said Chip Redden, Overture's vice president of marketing product support.

The latest venture investment was led by Lehman Bros. Venture Partners, which put in $7 million. The rest came from existing investors, including Intersouth Partners in Durham.

The venture money was not needed to keep Overture afloat but rather to help the company grow, said John Glushik, an Intersouth general partner.

Overture's ISG product line consists of a laptop-sized box that puts voice and data onto the same line, reducing the number of lines that businesses need to run their phone and computer systems. The product is used by 115 customers, mostly telecommunications carriers such as Time Warner Telecom.

Overture eventually wants to be acquired by a larger competitor.

But Overture is not ready for the acquisition that would pay off for the investors. That would take continued performance and more growth in the market, Glushik said.