Speedera keen on IP

Speedera Networks, a service provider in the content delivery space, plans to file its first patent from its Bangalore office by the end of the year. This might coincide with a doubling of headcount at the centre to reach 100.

"We have always believed in IP. I would not call ourselves IP aggressive but we do file patents as and when we develop a new technology," says Abhay Dubey, managing director of Speedera. The company which has been filing for patents from its US office for some time has been granted five.

Started in 1999, Speedera specialises in 'taking a customer's content and helping route it to different parts of the world without any network glitches.'

Simply put, the customer in question would have to have only one original website, based out of one host server. Speedera uses its own infrastructure around the world to help distribute the content across the world. Around this basic service, the company has built a set of integrated services named SpeedSuite for its customers.

"We developed our own products or technology backbone to run these services. And we filed patents whenever we came across interesting modules where we felt we might be the first or obtain competitive advantage from," adds Dubey.

The company, which claims to be the first in the content delivery space to record profits and counts around 125 people on its rolls, has raised around $50 million in three rounds of funding.

It posted revenues of $8.28 million for its second quarter-ended December 2004, up 49 per cent year-on-year. It also claims huge leaps in profit growth, up nearly 300 per cent in the quarter year on year.

"Our profitability has been growing not only because the market has been opening up and we are signing on more customers but also because we have been able to build more efficiency into our delivery systems thereby helping us to cut down on cost," says Dubey.

Around 70 per cent of total revenues come from North America but Dubey does not consider this a disadvantage and mentions the company's focus on geographies as one of the primary reasons for its growth.

Speedera Networks began operations in India in 2003 and employs around 52 persons in their Bangalore centre.

The centre does work for the company that covers everything from engineering to marketing and business development. Speedera's customers in India includes Rediff, Wipro and NDTV.