Petaluma-based Cyan raises $10 million venture capital

Petaluma optical communications startup Cyan Inc. has raised an additional $10 million in venture capital, reflecting a soaring demand for high-speed Internet access.

Cyan sells broadband equipment, software and services to phone companies, Internet providers and cable networks struggling to manage a flood of digital traffic.

Cyan reported the private equity deal last week in a filing with federal securities regulators. It brings the company's venture backing to about $90 million since it was founded in 2006.

It will use the latest round of funding for general operations, Cyan said. CEO Mike Hatfield couldn't be reached for comment.

Earlier this month, Cyan announced a deal to sell technology to Lynx Network Group, a Michigan telecommunications provider, for a statewide high-capacity fiber network.

The value of the deal wasn't disclosed.

Cyan's equity investors include Juniper Networks, Meritech Capital Partners, Azure Capital Partners, Norwest Venture Partners, Focus Ventures and Tenaya Capital.

Cyan has about 120 employees, with most at its headquarters in Petaluma.

The company was founded by Hatfield, a Telecom Valley veteran who has led several communications startups.

Hatfield started Calix, a $287 million Petaluma company that went public last year. He was a co-founder of Cerent, another Petaluma startup that was acquired by Cisco in 1999 for $7.3 billion.

Hatfield also was vice president at Advanced Fibre Communications, which was sold to Tellabs in 2004 for $1.5 billion.

Cyan launched its optical transport platform in 2009, with next-generation 3-D software that allows carriers to see different "layers" of voice, video and data traffic on their networks.

Cyan's technology employs Ethernet, a transmission system that handles more data at higher speeds. Earlier this year, the company jumped into a $29 billion market for managed services, helping carriers handle the surge of traffic on their broadband networks.

Engineers at Cyan's operations center offer a round-the-clock network management service, analyzing digital traffic flow, fixing transmission problems and helping carriers add new broadband services, the company said.