Picolight Raises $38.9 Million in Third Funding Round
Source: Picolight
Boulder, CO. Picolight Inc., a leading supplier of Gigabit networking optoelectronics to the telecom and storage networking industries, today announced it has raised $38.9 million in its third and largest round of funding. The proceeds will enable Picolight to further ramp manufacturing of the company s Vertical Cavity Laser-based, 1-30 Gigabits-per-second fiber optic components, accelerate and expand research, and develop and supplement marketing.
The funding round, led by Pequot Private Equity Fund III, L.P., includes new investment from industry leaders Cisco Systems, Inc. and Corning Inc. as well as the participation of existing investors Bank of America Ventures and Charles River Ventures. "The funding is a clear indication of support for Picolight s vision and focus on high-speed fiber optic interconnects for backplanes, switching centers, metro and access networks," said Stan Swirhun, CEO of Picolight.
This closing brings the total investment in Picolight to more than $53 million.
"Picolight has tremendous in-depth knowledge of advanced optical networking components technology, and in applying that technical knowledge to current and emerging marketplace needs of the networking industry," notes Michael Karfopoulos, member of the general partner of Pequot Private Equity Fund III, L.P. "Picolight also has the infrastructure, leadership team and proven experience in successful delivery of advanced optical component products. We recognize and value this rare combination." Mr. Karfopoulos joins Picolight s board of directors as a result of the investment.
About Pequot Private Equity Pequot Private Equity is the venture capital arm of Pequot Capital Management, Inc., a leading investment firm with more than $10 billion under management in 21 funds. Pequot Private Equity invests in young and growing companies pursuing leadership in such dynamic market sectors as telecommunications and network infrastructure, eBusiness, and technology-enabled healthcare. Pequot Capital manages investments across all stages of a portfolio company s growth, from start-up to maturity. See http://www.pequotcap.com.
About Bank America (BA) Venture Partners BA Venture Partners is a $500 million venture capital partnership, whose sole limited partner is Bank of America. BA Venture Partners focuses on companies in broadband and wireless communications, Internet infrastructure software and services, and biotechnology. See http://www.baventurepartners.com.
About Charles River Ventures Charles River Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm that invests in data communications and e-commerce companies. Since 1970, Charles River has organized 10 funds totaling over $1 billion and has provided capital and corporate development guidance to more than 250 companies. See http://www.crv.com.
About Picolight Picolight designs, manufactures and delivers laser-based, fiber optic transceiver components and subsystems that deliver multi-Gigabit bandwidth to manufacturers of telecom switch, storage area network (SAN) and enterprise network equipment. The company s transceivers act as network interconnects in backplanes; between switches and routers in points of presence (POPs), central offices and data centers; and in metro and access networks. Picolight s line and backplane transceivers satisfy Gigabit Ethernet, 10Gigabit Ethernet, OC-192, Infiniband and Fibre Channel standards as well as several proprietary Parallel Optical Interconnect link requirements. Armed with a patented and proprietary Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Lasers (VCSEL) technology, the company delivers high bandwidth to switching centers and to the network edge -- two exponentially growing segments of an increasingly optical network. Picolight is located in Boulder, CO, and employs a staff of 115. See http://www.picolight.com
Contact: Dave Kempf, Chief Financial Officer Tel: 303-530-3189, ext. 231 dkempf@picolight.com Lynn Watson, Director Marketing Communications Tel: 303-530-3189, ext. 205 lwatson@picolight.com both of Picolight Inc.
Dave Kempf, Chief Financial Officer
Tel: 303-530-3189, ext. 231
dkempf@picolight.com
Lynn Watson, Director Marketing Communications
Tel: 303-530-3189, ext. 205
lwatson@picolight.com both of Picolight Inc.
E-mail: lwatson@picolight.com
Web site: http://www.picolight.com
