Harris Liontas is confident Novra Technologies Inc. has received the right investment at the right time.

The president and CEO of the Winnipeg-based provider of broadband equipment for satellite, cable and wireless networks, said he's excited about the possibilities a second $1-million investment from Crocus Investment Fund will bring.

"The first million was to finish our product development and to do early marketing. This (second) million is the money that will get us into the market," he said in an interview yesterday while on holiday in Mexico. "These are the key dollars."

Crocus has agreed to purchase one unit of Novra, consisting of 1.7 million shares in Novra's capital and 750,000 warrants, which entitle it to buy an equal number of common shares from treasury for the exercise price of 50 cents each. The purchase price for the unit is $250,000.

Crocus has also entered into a loan agreement with Novra under which it will commit to advance up to $750,000 in exchange for convertible promissory notes, which are also convertible into common shares of Novra at 50 cents a share.

Liontas said the capital will also be put toward finishing off its business television product, which he expects to drive the company's sales this year in both Europe and North America. With a number of major contracts down to final negotiations, he said he expects sales to triple to about $2.5 million this year. The company employs 25 people.

James Umlah, chief investment officer at Crocus, said the prospects for Novra remain "tremendously" strong.

"They've been able to secure more orders than they can fill which creates the opportunity for higher margins. It looks like 2004 will be the breakout year for the company," he said in an interview while on holiday at Big White, B.C., yesterday.

Liontas said he was also buoyed by Novra's repurchase last month of the old SpectraWorks Inc. assets from B.C.-based Norsat International. The move, which includes network management software technology, intellectual property and client accounts, essentially reverses a four-year-old sale and has added companies such as Singapore Tel and Hong Kong Tel to Novra's client list.

Novra (NVI/TSX Venture Exchange) is one of just a handful of publicly-traded companies in Crocus's portfolio. There was no trading of its shares yesterday. Their previous close was 15.5 cents.