BayPackets Technologies: Repackaging Voice

It delivered its first product, ImMediate, for the voice over

cable (VoC) market within six months of its existence. The product is currently

undergoing interoperability testing at Cisco, which is expected do the beta

trial with one of its customers. The company is now working on its next product

in the area of advanced intelligent network (AIN) services in VoIP. This will

complement its first product for a complete set of infrastructure software

solutions to telecom majors.

BayPackets, a hot seed-stage Silicon Valley based high-tech

start up, was set up in February 2000 by Sanjeev Chawla and his two classmates

at Roorkee Engineering College, Anurag Goel and Gaurav Goel. Headquartered at

Menlo Park, California, the company incorporated its fully-owned subsidiary,

BayPackets Technologies India, the very next month and also pledged $8 million

for it. Its strategy is to develop new technology products at the Indian

operations to cater to its key target customers–the local exchange carriers

and Internet service providers.

The company foresees a huge market potential among telecom

service providers (TSPs). It plans to develop solutions for converged networks.

While its solutions are targeted for the VoIP-based next-generation networks, it

also aims at helping TSPs migrate to the new technology. Apart from VoIP,

BayPackets is positioning itself as a technology developer for the next

generation of telecom services infrastructure in the convergence space, such as

VoATM, VoDSL, VoPacket cable and wireless networks. With the telecom scenario

changing fast–voice is getting packetized and sent over different transmission

media–it’s sizzling time for companies like BayPackets.

The first step was partnering with global leaders like Cisco

and Syndeo for its VoC product, and Lucent Technologies, Empowertel and ViCorp

for its VoIP product. It has also worked out an alliance with Accelerated

Networks for VoDSL. With these tie-ups, BayPackets is creating a market for its

two products, VoIP and VoC.

These are not the only reasons for the company to sizzle in 2001. There is

also the interest of the VC community in the company. It got its first round of

funding, of $2.5 million, by Silicon Valley-based venture capitalists Telesoft

Partners and Anthillion Ventures, and a few angel investors. The company is in

an advanced stage of closing the second round of investment of $30 million by

February 2001. DQ