Packeteer, Inc., a Silicon Valley startup company formed to address the growing problem of "crowd control" on the Internet and the World Wide Web, has raised $4,700,000 in its first round of venture funding.

Packeteer's product, expected to be available beginning in December, is a network device that will allow companies to allocate network capacity, or bandwidth, on a priority basis to outside users accessing their corporate Web sites, and to internal "intranet" users accessing the public Internet.

Craig Elliott, Packeteer president and chief executive officer, said, "The sharp rise in Internet use is causing frustration among end users who are waiting longer and longer for information, and near-panic among corporate intranet and Web site managers who feel they are losing control of their own network resources.

"So far the industry has simply tried to throw bandwidth at the problem. Packeteer believes it's not the amount of bandwidth, but proper management -- the ability to control and optimize that bandwidth -- that will allow the Internet to realize its potential as a pervasive commercial tool."

Packeteer has been operating since its formation in July 1995 on approximately $700,000 in seed funding raised from a group of private investors. The new funding of $4,700,000 comes principally from the venture firms New Enterprise Associates and Onset Ventures, both of Menlo Park, Calif., and also includes a contribution from the original investors.

Packeteer was founded by Robert Packer, chief technical officer, and Brett Galloway, chief operating officer and chief financial officer. Packer, as an independent consultant, pioneered telecommunications and networking technologies for a number of high-tech firms, including Hybrid Networks, Metricom, IBM, British Telecom North America and Raynet.

Galloway previously spent eight years at Metricom, where he co-architected the company's Ricochet wireless microcellular public data network; his most recent position there was director of engineering.

Elliott joined Packeteer in April 1996 after 10 years with Apple Computer, where his most recent title was international general manager of the Online and Internet Division.

Packeteer's board of directors includes Elliott, Packer and Galloway; as well as Steve Campbell (chairman), founder of Stratacom; Joe Graziano, former CFO of Apple Computer and Sun Microsystems; and Peter Morris, partner in New Enterprise Associates.

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