Mobile traffic shaper Vasona raises $12M in Bessemer-led Series B

It was only a few months ago that network optimization startup Vasona Networks came out of stealth mode, and now it’s closing a $ 12 billion funding around. The company’s Form D popped up at the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday (spotted first by VentureBeat) revealing the Series B funding, and the company confirmed with GigaOM that existing investor Bessemer Venture Partners led the round with participation by New Venture Partners and Vodafone Ventures.

Vasona is one of a myriad of companies that develop traffic shaping technologies for mobile networks, but Vasona sets itself apart not in what it optimizes but where it does that optimization. As I wrote back in January:

Where Vasona distinguishes itself from the lot is in the level of precision it can target with its traffic shaping techniques, said Biren Sood, CEO of the Santa Clara, Calif.,-based company.

Most optimization technologies apply the work across entire classes of data in the network core, or they follow specific subscribers as they move to and fro, throttling back their speeds or compressing their videos regardless of the prevailing network conditions.

But Sood said that the network should be treated as a collection of its parts, rather than as a unified whole. Congestion occurs at the individual cell, so carriers should optimize their networks accordingly, applying traffic management techniques only where congestion dictates, Sood said.

“We understand the nature of the cell, and we understand the capacity of the cell,” Sood said. “With that understanding we can get the right bits to the right applications in the most efficient way.”

I checked back in with Sood on Monday, and he told me that Vasona plans to use the funds to scale its operations and trial activity globally. The company is already engaged in several trials with operators, Sood said, though he wouldn’t reveal specific operators (given Vodafone is an investor, it might be a safe bet). Vasona has now raised a total of $ 22 million.