US Fidelity Ventures bags Tom Burkardt

In his new position, Burkard will apply his 20 years of experience in the communications sector to pursuing new business opportunities, as well as assisting Fidelity Ventures’ portfolio companies with their “go-to-market” strategies.

“We have a history of successfully partnering with Tom in his prior role as CEO of Wavesmith Networks, a Fidelity Ventures funded company which was acquired by Ciena, and are excited about the operating background and successful track record he brings to our team,” said Rob Ketterson, managing partner at Fidelity Ventures. “Tom will be a significant contributor in helping us identify and invest in the next generation of category-leading IT and communications companies, while also helping our portfolio companies accelerate growth and go-to-market.”

Burkardt has held a variety of senior management positions, including chief executive officer of Wavesmith Networks, where he negotiated the sale of the company to Ciena in 2003, and Castle Networks, a company he co-founded and subsequently sold to Siemens in 1999. He was also chief operating officer of Unisphere Networks, business unit director at Cascade Communications, founder and director of Cabletron Systems’ IBM Interconnectivity Products Business Unit, and held various engineering and management positions at Wang Laboratories.

Founded in 1969, Fidelity Ventures has invested in firms such as GeoTel Communications (IPO subsequently acquired by Cisco), Teleport (IPO subsequently acquired by AT&T) and COLT Telecom (NASDAQ: COLTY). Recent investments include ONI Systems (IPO subsequently acquired by Ciena), WaveSmith (acquired by Ciena), and Connected (acquired by Iron Mountain). Fidelity Ventures currently manages $500 million in venture capital, and invests in US-based companies out of its Boston office, and in European companies out of its London office.

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