ClearCube Lands Another $20 Million In Funding

ClearCube Technology this week received a $20 million fourth round of funding in support of the company's blade desktop-computing technology. Paladin Capital Group's Homeland Security and Partners' Fund, a new investor, led the round, which also included Liberty Mutual, Austin Ventures, and Techno Venture Management.

ClearCube, which has received $52 million in funding since it was founded in 1997, provides desktop-computing technology that resembles the server-blade model. At a user's desk, ClearCube's C/Port, a device the size of a thin paperback book, connects to standard peripherals such as the keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, and USB devices. The C/Port also connects via existing Category 5 cable to its own dedicated blade in a company's data center. The blade contains an Intel processor and serves a single user. The blades fit in a chassis that holds up to eight blades and mounts into an equipment rack that can hold up to 12 chassis.

To date, ClearCube's customers have mostly been in the health-care, financial services, and government sectors, primarily because the blade configuration is perceived as secure. ClearCube has done pretty well selling its products based on customers' security concerns because all of the users' data is locked away in the data center, says Roger Kay, IDC's director of client computing. "If the fashion is security, this is a good time to dip into that stream," he says. "ClearCube will reap the benefit of investments in the security in 2003."

ClearCube CEO Mike Frost says the company will use this latest round of funding to staff up in the areas of sales and support, increase its presence in the reseller market, expand internationally, and continue to develop security technology. The company's customers include the U.S. Air Force, the U.S. Department of State, and Morgan Stanley. Paladin's Homeland Security Fund invests in companies that provide technology designed to help businesses and government installations manage their work in the event of a national threat.