Ortega embarks on sales campaign

SANTA CLARA, Calif. -With $11.8 million thanks to a recent round of financing, Ortega InfoSystems expects to soon embark on an aggressive sales and marketing campaign to expand its market share. Funding for the company that makes software enabling disparate security systems to work together exceeded expectations by more than $3 million. Originally, plans called for Ortega to raise $8 million. “It’s very important to take advantage of the timing today to develop the security integration division,” said Steve Chu, chairman and chief executive officer of Ortega, about the opportunity to raise more funds. The financing was led by Harbinger Venture Management, a first-time investor in the security market, and Sycamore Ventures. Harbinger’s interest in Ortega lay in its technology, said Peter Hsieh, senior vice president of Harbinger Venture in Silicon Valley, Calif. “This technology brings a new value into the whole industry,” he said. The funds will enable Ortega in the coming year to double its number of employees devoted to sales and marketing functions. About 25 people will be added at the company’s office here, along with an additional 15 employees brought onboard at the company’s headquarters in Taipei, Taiwan. The plan, he said, is to add people with connections in vertical markets, such as school, transportation and government markets. “We know there’s a great potential in the homeland security market,” said Chu. Some of the funds raised in the financing round will also be used toward a new and larger office. In the first few months of this year company officials anticipate embarking on an office search in the Freemont area of California. “The issue we need to resolve first is we have run out of space at our headquarters here,” said Chu. He said Ortega will look for an office two or three times the size of its current location. The company will also look at opening regional offices, such as an office in the Washington area, to provide better U.S. sales coverage, said Chu.