CipherOptics Adds Members To Board Of Directors
New additions give company additional industry and investment experience
(Raleigh, NC: September 9, 2003) CipherOptics, Inc. (www.cipheroptics.com), a developer and manufacturer of leading-edge, high-performance information protection solutions, announces that it has added two new members to its board of directors – Gerald G. Garbacz of G3 L.L.C. and Scott T. Jones of Origin Partners L.P. – and has also added Samuel McKay of Axiom Venture Partners L.P. to its board of advisors.
Concentrating on today’s performance-demanding applications, CipherOptics information protection appliances give organizations concerned about data security the ability to cost-effectively and easily protect their data while it traverses the network. The company’s Security Gateway family of products helps a wide variety of industry and government customers secure their vital information assets. CipherOptics provides affordable security without compromising networking capabilities, allowing customers to reduce their security infrastructure costs while maintaining network performance and speed.
Following the company’s recent closing of $9.6 million in Series B funding, CipherOptics president and CEO Ron Willis said the new board members would add industry and investment expertise to the company as it grows and expands its marketing channels. “Gerry Garbacz brings years of both commercial and government experience, where he has led many high profile teams to success in their respective endeavors,” said Willis. “Scott Jones and Sam McKay bring an important investor perspective from investing in and advising young companies like CipherOptics.”
“A solid directorship composed of veteran company builders and investors is absolutely crucial to the growth of a company,” said Ilan Carmi, chairman of the board of CipherOptics and partner at Kodiak Venture Partners. “Gerry and Scott possess the sophistication, experience and objectivity necessary to guide CipherOptics through its expansion phase and, together with the rest of the board, build it into the next market leader.”
Garbacz is the managing director of G3 L.L.C., a private consulting firm based in Riva, Maryland. G3 provides strategic advice to senior managers in developing and implementing business and operational improvements. Prior to starting his own firm, Garbacz served as chair, president, and chief operating officer of the Nashua Corporation for five years and was an executive vice president and director of W.R. Grace for twenty years.
Garbacz also recently joined GroupSecNine as a managing director. GroupSecNine, formed to better evaluate, invest in, and assist in the adoption of security measures to better protect the nation, is composed of former senior military officers (including former members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff), former senior business executives, along with nationally recognized experts in port security and disease control, former senior members of the National Security Council, and a former head of the Drug Enforcement Agency.
Jones is founding managing director of Origin Partners L.P. (www.originpartners.com), an early stage venture capital partnership with offices in the Boston, Massachusetts, New York/New Jersey, and Austin, Texas metropolitan markets. Prior to Origin, Jones had 15 years of venture capital experience working with and investing in formation stage companies in information technology, communications, and medical electronics markets. In addition to the CipherOptics board, he currently serves on the board of directors for Silicon Optix, and is responsible for Origin’s investment in Watchmark (a Lucent wireless technology spin-off).
Samuel McKay is general partner of Axiom Venture Partners L.P. (www.axiomventures.com). Prior to co-founding Axiom in 1994, McKay had an extensive investment career as a securities analyst, portfolio manager and venture capitalist. In the 1970s, he managed the CIGNA Insurance Co. venture capital fund until leaving to start his own business in 1981. He also founded and managed a special equity fund for early stage public companies while at CIGNA. Since then, he has managed two successful venture capital partnerships – Connecticut Seed Ventures (1987-1997) and Ventech Partners (1982-1991). Mr. McKay also founded and was CEO of a successful venture backed company, Targetech, Inc., and had an earlier career in high-energy laser physics research.
Garbacz and Jones join Willis, Carmi and Dennis Toothman, CipherOptics co-founder, CTO and vice president of engineering, as board members.
v For more information, please contact David Abels, Koroberi, Inc., by phone at (919) 960-9794 ext. 22 or by e-mail at david@koroberi.com.
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About CipherOptics, Inc.
CipherOptics is determined to change the face of secure high-speed networks in the 21st century by shattering performance barriers and maximizing network security efficiency. The CipherOptics line of information protection products enables the secure communication of data over high-speed networks. The corporate vision is to architect and deliver best-of-breed information protection products that enable today’s most demanding organizations to cost-effectively secure all of their mission-critical data. Founded in 2000, CipherOptics is a privately held company headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina. For more information, please contact David Abels, Koroberi, Inc., by phone at (919) 960-9794 ext. 22 or by e-mail at david@koroberi.com. Visit CipherOptics on the web at www.cipheroptics.com.