Aventail lands $47M in VC deal.(Aventail Corp. expects to land $47.5 million from VC company)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)

At a time when venture capital is extremely hard to come by, Aventail Inc. of Seattle expects to land $47.5 million in new backing to position the company for an expansion of the secure network services it provides to large enterprises.

The deal, slated to be finalized by July 6, is a "ringing endorsement" of the company's growth prospects, said Jim Slaby, a research analyst with the Giga Information Group in Boston.

"It's very significant if you consider the number of companies with great technology and prospects that have gone belly-up due to a lack of mezzanine-level financing out there," Slaby said.

The company provides a hosted extranet service -- a means by which a company can communicate securely with its customers, distribution partners and suppliers.

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