By Pacific Coast Business Times Staff Monday, December 14th, 2009

Thousand Oaks-based Xirrus, a maker of high-performance wireless Internet gear, has secured a $20 million round of venture capital and all but declared plans to go public or pull off a sale soon.

The deal, announced Dec. 1, is likely to be the single largest venture capital round announced in the Tri-Counties this year. It also may bring the region’s total venture investments to $73 million – up more than $20 million from the year before at a time when venture capital investments declined significantly across the country.

Founded in 2004, Xirrus makes high-powered Wi-Fi antennas and switches that it sells to universities and other big wireless users, promoting the devices as hearty enough to replace wired systems. The $20 million round led by Silicon Valley firm InterWest Partners brings the total invested in Xirrus to $80 million. The company has said that it expects the recent money to be “the last round of private funding Xirrus will require.”

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