The venture capital train continued to pick up steam this week, with Ottawa's Spotwave Wireless securing $12 million in new debt and equity financing.

The four-year-old company has received $7 million in fresh venture capital, along with a $5-million credit facility from Royal Bank of Canada.

With Spotwave's financing, about $97 million worth of venture capital, angel investments and private placements have been announced in the nation's capital since the beginning of the third quarter in July, already making it the strongest quarter of the year so far by a wide margin.

Spotwave is enjoying a lot of traction in its core market, the U.S. For chief executive and co-founder Shane Young, the latest financing is all about having the flexibility to take advantage of opportunities when they present themselves.

"We've looked at the requirements of the company going forward and one of the things we wanted to make sure we were in a position to do was respond quickly," he said. "In a sense it's topping up the gas tank, making sure that when the company has opportunity that we can respond quickly and we're not having to worry about where we get the capital from. It's really being proactive."

The "Series C" round was led by Newbury Ventures and VenGrowth Capital Partners. It included previous investors Primaxis Technology Ventures, Venture Coaches, The VentureLink Fund, GrowthWorks WV Funds and new investor RBQ Limited.

The fresh venture capital and the credit facility from RBC bring Spotwave's total financing to date to more than $35 million.

"We invest in companies that exhibit a combination of strong entrepreneurial management, innovative products and rapidly expanding markets," said Conrad Lewis, a partner at Newbury Ventures.

"Spotwave's early leadership in a market expected to grow to over $1.5 billion in the next few years makes the company an attractive and logical investment choice."

Spotwave's flagship product is the SpotCell repeater, an out-of-the-box product meant to boost wireless phone and Internet signals in buildings with heavy glass, steel and concrete infrastructure that reduces reception.

In June, Spotwave announced a deal with Telus Corp. in which the B.C.-based phone giant will offer Spotwave's products to business customers of the Mike cellular network operated by Telus Mobility.

Spotwave announced a similar deal last September with U.S. Cellular, a key player in the U.S. wireless market with four million customers in 25 states.

"We are impressed with Spotwave's solid management team and the strategic partnerships they have built with North America's leading wireless operators," added Jim Blattman, RBC's group manager of technology banking.

Mr. Young said RBC has been working with Spotwave from day one and the structure of the latest financing round is a strong endorsement of the company.

"Having those two components, both debt and equity, really is an indication that Spotwave Wireless is a company that is making progress and moving forward," Mr. Young said.

Spotwave says it has 2,000 SpotCell units deployed throughout North America with Verizon Wireless, Sprint and Rogers Wireless, as well as with Cingular and Telus Mobility.

In addition to helping the company capitalize on the opportunities in the U.S., Mr. Young said the fresh financing will also help Spotwave reach its profitability goal. He is aiming to have a "cash flow positive quarter towards the end of the year".

At this point, he believes the company has most of the people in place that it needs to reach its objectives. The head office operation in Ottawa employs about 50, while a sales office in Chicago has almost a dozen staff.

"For the most part there's no significant increases in staffing," Mr. Young said. "Again, I think we're pretty well positioned in the opportunity. It's about going after them and closing them."

He added that Spotwave's growing traction in the U.S. is indicative of a general upswing in the telecom market as a whole.

"We're certainly seeing opportunities opening up. The market is picking up in telecom ... It's been very tough out there selling over the last couple of years and finally I'm sensing that things are starting to break through and open up. It's very exciting for Spotwave."