EdgeCast Raises $54M More

Content delivery network (CDN) firm EdgeCast Networks has landed a $54 million “Series D” led by Performance Equity Management, with follow-on participation from existing investors Menlo Ventures and Steamboat Ventures. 

EdgeCast, which has raised about $20 million from previous rounds, said it will use the new infusion to help it strengthen its intellectual property portfolio, “aggressively expand its global network,” and shore up international sales and marketing efforts.

The company said it is now in its fourth consecutive year of probability, and counts several high profile customers, including Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr, Hulu, Lifetime Networks, BT, and Deutsche Telekom.  Competitors include Limelight Networks, Alcatel-Lucent and Akamai, which recently unveiled a product tailored to help MSOs develop in-house CDNs.

Last March, Motorola Mobility struck a deal to market EdgeCast's CDN to cable operators and other service providers worldwide on a nonexclusive basis. At the time, Motorola said the deal would let its customers deliver IP video to subscribers more efficiently, and enable MSOs and other network operators to resell CDN services to content owners. Motorola Home, the cable tech unit, is now part of Arris.

EdgeCast, founded in 2006, estimated in February that its network was responsible for “delivering and accelerating” about 5% of the globe’s Internet traffic.

EdgeCast president James Segil told TechCrunch that the company currently has a $100 million run rate.

“We deliver more than 4 trillion digital items a month to almost every Internet user in the world,” said EdgeCast chairman and CEO Alex Kazerani, in a statement issued Monday. “We are proud that our investment partners recognize our incredible performance and share our enthusiasm about our continued growth.”