Equipe cuts staff again
 
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ATM switch start-up Equipe Communications has reportedly laid off 25 employees, or 19% of its staff, in an effort to conserve cash as it readies the launch of its core switch later this month.
At the same time, Equipe has landed an additional $40 million in funding, according to a report in Mass High Tech. The funding, Equipe's third round, will be announced later this month, sources say.
Calls to Equipe CEO Dennis Rainville were not immediately returned.
An Equipe marketing official attributed the Mass High Tech report to a "leak" and not an officially sanctioned news release. The official says Equipe will have some news to release later this month.
Equipe is developing a 320G bit/sec ATM and MPLS switch for the core of carrier networks. The E3200, as it is called, is designed to scale ATM cores based on current switches and then provide a migration path to IP/MPLS cores.
Among those laid off last week were two company directors and 22 engineers, sources say. Equipe laid off 15 employees nine months ago in order to secure third-round funding, which the company expected to amount to $60 million to $70 million at that time.
Equipe is still on schedule to launch the E3200 later this month, but the company is trying to get into two Tier 1 trials for which RFPs were recently issued, sources say. Another issue facing Equipe is if the company can build product fast enough to keep pace with the trials if it is selected to participate, they say.
After last week's reduction, Equipe now employs 105.
With the third round of founding, Equipe has now raised $100 million since it was founded in 1999. Investors include Matrix Partners, Battery Ventures and North Bridge Venture Partners.
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