The second funding round for the San Jose, California-based content-compression software maker Ocarina Networks brought in an investment of $20 million. The round, led by Jafco Ventures, also included current investors - Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Highland Capital Partners - who, together with others, had raised $11 million in the previous round. 

Ocarina Networks, claiming its technology can compress data by up to 90 percent, said that the new funds will go towards improving existing technology; building up additional sales force; and working out more affiliations with storage providers like Hewlett-Packard and BlueArc. 

Saying that its content compression technology can, in effect, contract 10 terabyte data to between 1 and 2.5 terabytes, Ocarina harped on its marketing 'catch' amid recession - a considerable saving in storage costs! Along with cutting down the data-occupied space, Ocarina's versatile software also mitigates network jamming, thereby resulting in a smoother running of applications. 

Moreover, according to an Ocarina spokesperson, reduced storage requirements can help minimize energy footprints, which is a big plus for companies looking towards "greening" their business models. 

However, despite the inherent benefits of the Ocarina software, the company is hassled by the fact that most people and businesses would rather buy additional online storage than availing the content-compression advantage - but, with the new funds Ocarina can call more user attention to its product!