SEP et al. sell Zinwave to McWane

Ellie Pullen
06 February 2014

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US manufacturing company McWane has acquired venture capital-backed Zinwave, a UK provider of in-building wireless coverage infrastructure.

The company was hitherto backed by Scottish Equity Partners (SEP), Atlas Venture, Catapult Venture Managers and SEB Venture Capital.

Zinwave is to become a wholly owned subsidiary of Alabama-based McWane, but will retain its established brand and will continue to trade as an independent entity.

The acquisition of Zinwave will expand McWane's global footprint. The US business already has offices in the US, Canada and South Korea.

Previous funding
Zinwave first received funding in August 2005, securing approximately $7.6-8m from Atlas and SEP.

In March 2008, Zinwave raised a further $10m for its series-B round from Atlas, SEP and new investor SEB, which contributed $4m to the round, according to unquote" data.

The three investors then took part in Zinwave's series-C round in March 2010 alongside new backer Catapult.

Company
Founded in 2005, Zinwave is headquartered in Cambridge with a US office located in Columbus, Ohio, and a new Singapore office opening in the near future.

Zinwave provides wide-band active distributed antenna systems (DAS) for in-building wireless coverage. A DAS is a network of antennae that are connected to a common source (the primary hub) to provide wireless coverage for a building or area. Zinwave's 3000 DAS product is a three-stage system, comprising a primary hub, secondary hubs and remote units.

Once installed, the company's three-component DAS system can support new architectures to eliminate the need for upgrading existing infrastructure, which can be costly.

Zinwave claims its Zinwave 3000 DAS product can be used within the healthcare, corporate, education, industrial and hospitality sectors to reduce costs and increase efficiency.

The company employs around 25 staff and is believed to have recorded turnover of £3m in 2012, with an operating loss of £1.9m.

People
Ian Sugarbread is the CEO of Zinwave, while Ruffner Page Jr is the president of McWane. Prior to the sale, Zinwave's board of directors included SEP principal Mark Gracey, Atlas technology venture partner Barry Fidelman and SEB senior investment manager for technology Nigel Pilkington.