Celerica Raises Over $18-Million
Celerica of Morristown, New Jersey, has announced that it has secured over $18-million in a second round of funding.

Leading the round was Pitango Venture Capital of Tel Aviv, Israel, along with Charles River Ventures, Ridgewood Capital, Platinum Venture Capital and STAR Ventures, as well as private investors.

The total funding raised to-date stands at $20-million.

The funds will allow Celerica to advance its products that are designed to maximize the capacity of existing wireless infrastructure in urban areas, enabling mobile operators to add cellular sites less expensively and more quickly.

Andrew Corp. Acquires Wireless Equipment Firm for $470-million
Orland Park-based wireless equipment maker Andrews Corp. said it will acquire Celiant Corp. for $470-million in cash and stock. Based in Warren, New Jersey, Celiant is a wireless equipment manufacturer, specializing in powered amplifiers.

Andrews said that the acquisition will boost its profile as an independent supplier of power amplifiers and give it a broad array of products that support several of the next generation wireless standards.

Ember Secures $5-Million
Ember Corporation, a wireless embedded network provider for industrial and commercial enterprises, has secured an additional $5-million in its second round of funding.

Polaris Venture Partners led previous investors DFJ New England and Stata Ventures.

The capital raised will be used to fund commercial deployment of EmberNet technology in industrial and commercial sectors and to explore potential foreign markets, particularly in Asia.

Motorola Ventures Recent Investments
Motorola Venture, the investment arm of Motorola Inc., said it invested in Finnish mobile entertainment firm Codeonline OY and American network technology company Xanboo.

Codeonline OY
Investing in Codeonline will allow Motorola to expand wireless applications in Europe, where interest in wireless-delivered content is booming, said Jim O’Connor, Motorola’s managing director, Midwest.

Motorola is also betting that Codeonline’s license for its wireless version of ‘Trivial Pursuit’ will be as successful as the broad game editions.

Xanboo
Motorola Venture has also invested in Xanboo, a company that develops technology that allows users to monitor their home remotely over the Internet.

The American mobile phone maker joined investors in a $20-million round of funding, which Xanboo plans to use to expand its presence in the ‘networked home’ market.

At the moment, the technology is designed for use over PCs, but it will soon find its way onto set-top boxes and then onto handheld devices, Xanboo said.

Motorola hopes telecom carriers and broadband providers will see remotely managed home and small business networks as a value-added subscription-based service.