Gotham closes door, sources say
 
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Multiservice edge switch start-up Gotham Networks has ceased operations, according to sources.
Calls to Gotham's operator were greeted with a recorded message and the company's officials failed to return phone calls by press time.
Gotham recently laid off 30% of its workforce by slashing 30 of its 100 positions, according to sources and published reports. The 70 people remaining at that time were less than half of the 150 Gotham had a year ago.
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The company was awaiting a purchase order from Qwest and funding from Ciena but neither materialized in time for Gotham to survive, sources said.
Company Vice-President for Marketing and Business Development Laura Howard said at SuperComm last month that Gotham was on the verge of signing on a major vendor to invest in the company and to distribute its products. She made those comments when asked if the company had 30 days to find a buyer or cease operations, as sources had indicated.
Gotham's GN 1600 and GN 400 switches were designed to compete against multiservice Layer 2 switches and edge routers from several incumbent vendors and start-ups. Company officials said the switches were in several trials with carriers.
Gotham raised $33 million since its founding in 1999. Investors included Charles River Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners and Crescendo Ventures.
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