"This financing demonstrates a strong endorsement of our technology leadership and market strategy," said Amir Nayyerhabibi, Cortina president and CEO, in a statement. Nayyerhabibi added that the funding would enable Cortina to expand its product portfolio and help the company respond to customer needs.

Eric Young, a general partner at Canaan Partners, and Joe Horowitz, JAFCO Ventures managing general partner, will assume seats on Cortina's board of directors.

Cortina (Sunnyvale, Calif.) specializes in multi-service, multi-rate port processors that allow equipment vendors to support different types of Ethernet and Sonet networks with a smaller array of converged line cards.

Last month, Cortina started sampling an Ethernet aggregator chip dubbed Barcelona, the third device the company has added to its portfolio this year. The company also added the Arsenal multiservice framer and media-access control device to its portfolio earlier this summer.

In February, Cortina completed the acquisition of Azanda Network Devices Inc., which included that company's Sunnyvale-based assets and personnel, as well as Azanda's Bangalore design center with a staff of 11.

Last April, Cortina announced $20 million in Series B funding from Kodiak Venture Partners, Morgenthaler Ventures, Redpoint Ventures, El Dorado Ventures, Hotung Capital Management and Invesco Private Capital. Cortina said that each of these companies also participated in the Series C round.

Cortina's port processors can be programmed to support different rates and protocols, a capability that the company said reduces equipment vendors' engineering costs while diminishing time-to-market for new products. Cortina said it currently supplies some of the world's largest network equipment manufacturers.

"Cortina has all of the ingredients we look for in an investment — unique technology, a strong team and great customer momentum," said JAFCO's Horowitz said in Wednesday's statement. "We feel that Cortina is well positioned to become the dominant player in an important market."