The round was co-led by US-based Granite Ventures and Israel-based Vertex Venture Capital. The company also welcomed T-Mobile Venture Fund from Germany as a strategic investor. The capital raised will be used primarily to complete product development and to initiate sales and marketing activities. The company's $6 million Series A was led by 7-Main Ltd. This capital was used to establish the team and for the foundation of Percello in 2007.

"Percello is a market enabler via the PRC6000, which offers the highest level of integration, the most advanced features and the most efficient power consumption at the best price," said Percello CEO Shlomo Gadot, in a statement.

Percello claimed that its first chip, the PRC6000, is the first SoC dedicated to the 3G UMTS femtocell market. The chip is a highly integrated device supporting all femtocell backhauling functions such as timing, security and others. PRC6000 is compliant to 3GPP Rel 7 baseline and is capable of delivering 21.6-Mbps downlink and 5.76-uplink. What was not made clear was whether the design of the PRC6000 is complete or whether Percello has yet seen the design implemented in silicon. Nor was it disclosed where Percello plans to get the chip made.

"Vertex strongly believes in femtocells and their benefits to mobile operators and consumers," said Manuel Timor, partner at Vertex Venture Capital. "The company's unique technology, large potential market and experienced team made it easy for Vertex to invest in Percello." Timor did not disclose what is unique about Percello's technology.

"The baseband chip that Percello develops is the most critical component related to quality and mass market compatible price points. Percello's team has a strong track record and we highly welcome them strengthening the growing femtocell ecosystem," said Klaus-Jurgen Krath, senior vice president of radio network engineering and quality for T-Mobile International, in the same statement.

Percello was founded in 2007 by an experienced team led by Shlomo Gadot, former co-founder and co-CEO of Modem Art, which was acquired by Agere in May 2005 for $145 million, Rafy Carmon, VP R&D, and Yoav Volloch, as VP Product Management.

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