Fibre-optics spark interest
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VCs and corporate investors continued to pour cash into emerging optical component companies, ignoring warnings that the sector is over-funded.
European venture capitalists, banks and corporate investors continued to pour cash into emerging optical component companies, ignoring warnings that the sector is over-funded.
French start-up Optogone – founded just six months ago – enjoyed the biggest cash injection when it raised €9.0 million in its first round. The syndicate of investors included the Dutch investment bank ABN Amro, French banks Credit Lyonnais and Banque Populaire, and France Telecom. The Brittany-based group, which enjoys close links with a now public optical research team spun out of France Telecom, designs and manufactures liquid crystal-based components for dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM).
A duo of optical component spin-outs from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, GigaTera and BeamExpress, secured financing to develop and market their technologies. GigaTera raised €2.2 million in follow-on funding from Silicon Valley-based chipmaker Cypress Semiconductor to continue developing its long-haul optical technology. BeamExpress specialises in vertical cavity surface emitting laser technology (VCSEL) for metropolitan area networks. The Lausanne-based company raised €5 million from compatriot venture capital firm, Index Ventures to fund its marketing drive.
Compound Semiconductor Technologies also boasts strong academic links, but has adopted a different market approach. CST, a joint venture between Glasgow and Strathclyde Universities, provides manufacturing and design services for aspiring start-ups in the opto-electronics market. Early-stage investor European Digital Partners, chipmaker Intel and a group of private investors were impressed enough to stump up $5 million (€5.6m) for the Glasgow-based group. The funds will be used to scale up CST's manufacturing capacity.
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