Investing Ahead of the Market: BigBand Networks

BigBand develops, markets and sells network-based platforms that enable cable operators and telephone companies, collectively called service providers, to offer video, voice and data services across coaxial, fiber and copper networks. BigBand has delivered the only successful commercial deployments of switched broadcast, an application that substantially increases the volume of content that a service provider can offer. In addition, the company was the first to implement digital simulcast, an application that facilitates the insertion of advertising and the transmission of video in a digital format across a network while still providing service to analog subscribers. The company's product applications of Digital Simulcast, TelcoTV, Switched Broadcast, and High-Speed Data and Voice-over-IP are a combination of our modular software and programmable video and data hardware platforms.

Cedar helped found BigBand in 1999 with a Pre-Seed® investment. Cedar was approached by the two founders, Amir Bassan-Eskenazi and Ran Oz, who at the time had only a general idea of the area they wanted to focus on. Cedar was very impressed with the founders and as a result, made a small investment geared to fund a process to come up with a Killer Application.
During the Pre-Seed period, Cedar assisted the two Founders in their quest to find the right application and to develop a business plan. The result of this initial effort was the BMR broadband multimedia router that enabled switched broadcast. This was the first product of its kind and based on its strength, BigBand was able to penetrate the top cable companies in the U.S. as well as Verizon.
In fact, the product was so visionary that it was a little difficult at first to attract capital and Cedar kept financing the company by itself for its first year of operations. During this year, Cedar introduced additional members of the core management team to the company.

By providing the seed capital to fund BigBand, Cedar shared the Company’s vision of the advancement of video from traditional TV broadcast models toward more advanced functionality. That vision has been indeed happening in recent years with the advent of high-resolution HDTV, Video On Demand, Interactive Services, Targeted Advertising, High Speed Data and Voice over IP. BigBand's products are key enablers to the network to offer these services.
Cedar Fund’s investment in BigBand was timed well ahead of the market and allowed the company to develop its solutions and bring them to market at the right time. Cedar’s close work with the founding team, especially at the early startup stages, its financial support, especially in the more difficult first year and the Fund’s continuing involvement on the board of directors, are part of Cedar’s commitment to help leading entrepreneurs to build their companies from the ground up. BigBand has grown very nicely since its inception and achieved $176 million in sales for the year ended on Dec. 31, 2007. The company has a global customer base of more than 100 cable operators and telephone companies spanning North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia. In the U.S. alone, BigBand Networks' customers include six of the top ten service providers.
When asked to summarize his experience working with Cedar, Mr. Amir Bassan-Eskenazi, CEO, President & Co-founder, BigBand Networks, says “Business strategy and technology may change from time to time. Partners and investors don't. It's important for entrepreneurs to pick investors who can see the big picture and can effectively participate and contribute to strategic decisions. Cedar is such an investor.”