Verizon Ventures leads €4 Million Series A financing round in PICadvanced - Seite 2

"Verizon sees a tremendous amount of potential in the way NG-PON2 can improve its optical access network and deliver greater bandwidth to the end-user,” said Glenn Wellbrock, director of optical transport network architecture, design and planning at Verizon. “PICa’s team has exceptional optical talent and we look forward to watching the company grow.”

Next-generation network standards, including NG-PON2, are forecast to reach over $2 billion in total market size in 2024, up from ~$250 million in 2019, driven by a need for more capacity and service flexibility for 5G. As a leading innovator in this growing market, PICa has become an optical vendor that is fully NG-PON2 standard compliant and in production. PICa’s product roadmap includes other next-generation standards that will also benefit from cutting edge innovation.

"PICa is pioneering disruptive network technologies, and Verizon Ventures is excited to invest in the potential of solution-oriented optics for telecommunications applications,” said Samy Ben Aissa, managing director at Verizon Ventures. “The technology is modern and limitless — it can be applied to various network standards, allowing performance and lower cost for delivering broadband network access to endcustomers.”

The 200M Fund’s mission is to enable Portuguese technological companies to more effectively attract reference international investors like Verizon.

PICa has been awarded recognition on the Top 25 Portuguese Emerging Scaleups list in both 2018 and 2019. For more information, please visit the company’s website here.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE, Nasdaq: VZ) was formed on June 30, 2000 and is celebrating its 20th year as one of the world’s leading providers of technology, communications, information and entertainment products and services. Headquartered in New York City and with a presence around the world, Verizon generated revenues of $131.9 billion in 2019. The company offers data, video and voice services and solutions on its award winning networks and platforms, delivering on customers’ demand for mobility, reliable network connectivity, security and control.

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Kim Ancin
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Eric Wilkens
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