Axentra, a maker of digital content management software, has raised US$6 million in its first round of funding, led by the venture capital arm of T-Mobile's German parent company.

The Ottawa-based company, which makes the HipServ Home Server software platform, received the Series-A funding from T-Online Venture Fund, a division of Deutsche Telekom.

As part of the investment agreement, Deutsche Telekom will equip its business units with the HipServ technology.

The HipServ file and media home server allows original equipment manufacturers and service providers to stream photos, music and video, as well as enabling users to centrally organize, find and manage their digital content at home or on the road and to share their media with friends and family. The system allows users to put digital content on a relatively inexpensive, low-power central home server and easily stream it to various devices around the home without having to upload the content onto a computer first.

"The fact that T-Online Venture Fund recognized the value of the platform for Deutsche Telekom-affiliated companies clearly demonstrates the merits of our technology," said Axentra CEO Marc-Antoine Benglia in a statement. "This investment is significant not only as an immediate funding source but also as an indication that HipServ will quickly gain market traction among other providers."

As the company has finished its flagship product, it will be using the funds mostly to drive sales and marketing and hiring, said Axentra executive vice-president Eric Lefebvre in an interview.

"The digital home market will be in full bloom in 2009 and 2010, according to analysts, so it's important to be established as a player early on," Mr. Lefebvre said. "We need to step up, not only on sales and marketing but on research and development, marketing, on all fronts basically ... and what's exciting is that we'll be growing significantly from Ottawa over the next couple of years."

Axentra, which is headquartered in Gatineau and has an office in San Jose, Calif., will be hiring 30 or 40 people in the short term for both of its offices, with most of the growth occurring in its local workforce, Mr. Lefebvre said. The company employs about 20 people in Gatineau and San Jose, with more than half of its staff in the Ottawa area.

"We're just starting out of the gate now, but our revenues will grow pretty quickly ... in the next 24 months as the market matures," Mr. Lefebvre added.