Security appliance maker Fortinet hopes its cash injection of $50m will help it boost its brand and take on competitors.

The investment was gathered from existing investors, including RedPoint, Meritech CapitalPartners and Acorn Campus.

Jonathan Mepstead, regional manager UK at the vendor, said the funding will help build on the foundations the firm laid in 2003, when turnover increased 10-fold on the previous year, allowing the firm to establish itself worldwide.

Mepstead added that the funding will give Fortinet greater authority and allow resellers to guarantee to customers that the firm is a safe bet.

"It gives us more credibility, which will help the channel go for bigger customers," he said. "Blue-chip companies are attracted to us now because they see us as a lower risk."

The company, which makes the Fortigate ASIC-based multifunction firewall, has been busy in the channel over the past 16 months since it set out its two-tiered channel strategy in the UK.

The vendor has used its channel to help it eat into the dominance of players such as Cisco and NetScreen in the crowded security appliance market. It currently distributes through Norwood Adam, Westcon and Fresh Egg.

Mepstead said this line-up is set to stay, and the vendor is looking for VARs in the network and security integration space.

Graham Fox, managing director of Fresh Egg, a Fortinet distributor, said: "We expect to sell £6m to £8m of Fortinet kit this year. The funding will help Fortinet take on NetScreen and Cisco because it will make it more viable to resellers and end-users."

Fresh Egg sold £1.5m of Fortinet products in the second half of 2003.

Separately, email security and spam prevention appliance maker CipherTrust has received another $42m round of financing.

karl_flinders@vnu.co.uk