Grande, which has its corporate headquarters in San Marcos, TX, secured a $70-million senior debt facility from several banks, which it did not identify. It also received $20 million from new and previous investors including Whitney & Co., the Centennial Funds, Prime New Ventures and Austin Ventures. Grande has raised $348 million in capital.

The company is laying a fiber-optic network between Austin and San Antonio to offer local and long-distance telephone service, cable television service and high-speed Internet service. It has begun selling services to businesses and residences in parts of Austin, San Marcos and San Antonio. By the end of the year, the company will have put down more than 700 miles of cable, making its services available to 50,000 Central Texas residents."This funding provides a significant financial boost that will help us build the Central Texas portion of our network more quickly," said William Morrow, vice chairman and CEO.