Kevin Rankin of Tropic Networks

Tropic Networks, already one of the best-financed start-ups in Ottawa, has secured an additional US$48 million in financing.

The deal involved US$33 million in equity capital. JP Morgan Partners, Narra Venture Capital, Dynamic Venture Opportunities Fund, CrossBridge Partners Fund, VentureLink Fund, and The Bank of Nova Scotia along with Tropic's current list of investors participated in this round. JP Morgan is the lead investor for the round.

In addition, Silicon Valley Bank is loaning the company US$15 million in operating capital.

"We are pleased to have this level of confidence in the company from the financial community," said Tropic CEO Kevin Rankin said in a statement.

"The additional funding combined with the operating capital facility provides the framework required to respond to the growing demand for our solutions from our tier-1 partners and customers."

Tropic makes equipment for metro-regional optical networks.

The company says it has been shipping generally available products for revenue since early 2004. Over the last year, it has secured channel partners in key markets, experienced real-world deployments and steady growth.

"The Tropic team has successfully combined market vision with innovative technologies to deliver a highly differentiated optical platform that enhances the capabilities of its customers' networks," says Jeff Logan, principal with JPMorgan Partners. "Tropic Networks has emerged as a forerunner in the growing metro optical networking space and is expanding its market opportunity by providing solutions to both the telecom and cable sectors, for high bandwidth IP service delivery including Video on Demand and IPTV."

Tropic's windfall is the latest in a string of sizeable venture capital announcements to come in recent months, reaffirming forecasts that activity is indeed picking up in the local tech sector. Only last week Zelos Therapeutics Inc. raised US$42.5 million in a Series B financing round to complete Phase II clinical trials of its drug candidates for treating osteoporosis and psoriasis.