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Bigfoot Networks Secures $8 Million Series B Funding

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  Published in House and Home on Tuesday, November 17th 2009 at 4:38 GMT by Market Wire
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REDWOOD CITY, CA--(Marketwire - November 17, 2009) - [ Bigfoot Networks ], the networking technology company behind the Killer line of gaming network cards, today announced it has raised $8 million in a Series B financing round led by existing investors North Bridge Venture Partners, Palomar Ventures and Raven Venture Partners. It will use the investment to fund product development and expand its go-to-market capabilities. Bigfoot Networks has raised a total of $20.75 million in funding to date.

Bigfoot Networks also announced that it has hired former Polycom executive Wayne Dunlap as vice president of engineering and added veteran consumer technology executive Greg Ballard to its board of directors.

Reporting to Bigfoot Networks CEO Michael Howse, Mr. Dunlap will direct development of the company's high-performance online gaming technology. As former CTO and vice president of engineering at Polycom, Dunlap brings extensive experience in networking and data communications. At Polycom's Video Solutions Division he was instrumental in creating the top-ranked HDX high-definition videoconferencing product line. Prior to Polycom, Mr. Dunlap held technical lead and senior engineering positions with Wang Laboratories, Nomadic Systems and The Complete PC. He has several US patents in visual collaboration.

"Bigfoot Networks' technology targets a growing demand for improved networking performance in online gaming," Dunlap said. "I'm thrilled to lead a team that is pioneering this exciting new category of networking solutions and evolving the experience for gamers around the world."

Ballard has served as CEO of numerous technology and entertainment companies, including Glu Mobile (NASDAQ: [ GLUU ]), a leading global publisher of mobile games; SONICblue, the makers of ReplayTV and the Rio digital music player; MyFamily.com, a successful subscription-based Internet service; and 3D-gaming pioneer 3dfx Interactive. Previously, Ballard was a senior executive at Time Warner, Capcom Software and Digital Pictures. Ballard has also served on the board of directors for THQ (NASDAQ: [ THQI ]), Pinnacle Systems, IGN and xFire and currently serves on the board of DTS (NASDAQ: [ DTSI ]).

Today's announcement follows other recent news of progress at the company. Bigfoot Networks recently announced a new distribution partnership with VisionTek, a leading consumer PC peripherals company, to license and distribute the Killer Xeno™ Pro. Bigfoot Networks currently sells gaming network cards inside PCs from Dell and Alienware as well as rigs from many specialized gaming PC manufacturers. It is also sold as a separate add-in-card product for gamers through e-tail and retail channels. Bigfoot Networks has also recently released new software for Killer Xeno Pro gaming network cards, providing additional features, improved performance and Windows 7 compatibility.

"Bigfoot Networks has taken all the necessary steps to solidify its market position and prepare for future growth," said Cali Tran, principal at North Bridge Venture Partners. "It has created new international sales channels, extended its business model into OEM licensing and recruited world-class executives. We believe Bigfoot Networks is well-positioned to become the top worldwide supplier of networking products and technologies for gaming and real-time Internet applications."

"This has been a transformational year for Bigfoot Networks," said Bigfoot CEO Michael Howse. "We strengthened our products, partner relationships and team. Wayne Dunlap completes our management team and brings us extraordinary expertise in networking technology. We are privileged to have Greg Ballard join our board of directors, and will benefit from his experience as one of the most respected executives in the consumer technology industry. Bigfoot Networks now has all the right assets in place, and we look forward to reaping the benefits in 2010 and beyond."

About Bigfoot Networks

Bigfoot Networks is a leading networking technology company that develops hardware and software solutions that significantly improve the online gaming experience. Its products are designed to provide a smoother, more responsive experience for today's new generation of real-time, online applications, such as gaming, voice chat and other applications that require highly responsive interactivity and high-performance networking solutions. To learn more, visit Bigfoot Networks at [ http://www.bigfootnetworks.com ].

BIGFOOT NETWORKS, the BIGFOOT NETWORKS logo, KILLER and all other Bigfoot Networks product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of Bigfoot Networks Inc. KILLER Reg. U.S. Pat. & Tm. Off. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.