Wi-Fi device and system company Colubris Networks Inc. said it has acquired Kiwi Networks Inc., a developer of Wi-Fi technologies and automated radio-frequency planning and control products, for an undisclosed amount. Kiwi had raised at least $1.5 million, a figure listed as “investment” in Kiwi on the Web site of investor Western Technology Investment. Barry Fougere, chief executive of Colubris, said in an interview that Kiwi had raised a Series A round of funding. He wouldn’t say how much Kiwi had raised overall, though he did say it was an early stage company. It was founded in 2003. Fougere also confirmed Western Technology was an investor, as was DCM-Doll Capital Management. Colubris learned of Kiwi through DCM-Doll, he said. The acquisition closed within the last two months, according to Fougere. Kiwi executives couldn’t be reached immediately for comment. Earlier this month Colubris said it had closed $15 million in Series D funding. That capital is to help the company expand from specialized markets such as transportation into the broader corporate office market. The round was led by DCM-Doll and included the Telecommunications Development Fund. Both were new investors. In addition, all existing Colubris investors returned for the round. Those include Prism Venture Partners, Mid-Atlantic Venture Funds, GrandBanks Capital Inc. and Business Development Bank of Canada. Kiwi’s technology is being incorporated into Colubris’s multiservice wireless local-area network, or WLAN, systems. Colubris anticipates shipping the Kiwi-enhanced systems in the fourth quarter. In a Colubris press release, Fougere said his company purchased Kiwi “for its world-class development team, advanced technology and patent portfolio.” Also in the release, Fougere said having Kiwi’s technology will help Colubris advance against “the competition in both the Wi-Fi and WiMAX markets.” Wi-Fi is a standard for short-range wireless data communications, within 300 or fewer feet of a wireless node. WiMAX is a standard for long-range wireless, used for deployments such as extensions of cellular signal to rural locations. Kiwi’s headquarters in Campbell, Calif., are now the West Coast sales and development office for Waltham, Mass., based Colubris. Shimon Scherzer, who was co-founder, president and CEO of Kiwi Networks, is heading the engineering team at that Colubris West Coast office.
