Nanotechnology Now - Press Release: Innolume Secures €8.6 Million New Funding to Ramp up Production and Enhance Market Penetration of Quantum Dot Lasers

Home > Press > Innolume Secures €8.6 Million New Funding to Ramp up Production and Enhance Market Penetration of Quantum Dot Lasers

Abstract:
S-Group Capital Management leads; strategic investment by Applied Ventures; additional investments by NRW.BANK, PEPPERMINT. Financial Partners, Juergen Kurb, Robert A. Young, and S-VentureCapital Dortmund

Innolume Secures €8.6 Million New Funding to Ramp up Production and Enhance Market Penetration of Quantum Dot Lasers

DORTMUND, Germany and SANTA CLARA, CA | Posted on August 4th, 2008

Innolume, the leading provider of quantum dot (QD) laser diodes and modules covering the 1000 nm to 1320 nm optical spectrum, today announced that it secured a Series C round of financing for €8.6 million. The round was led by S-Group Capital Management Limited (SGCM) with Applied Ventures, LLC joining as a new investor. Existing investors NRW.BANK, PEPPERMINT.Financial Partners, S-VentureCapital Dortmund, Robert A. Young and Juergen Kurb also participated.

With this Series C funding, Innolume will enhance production capabilities and marketing activities to sustain growing revenues generated by its unique quantum dot laser products for telecommunication, industrial and medical applications, as well as for further development of its revolutionary comb-laser and related photonic integrated circuits in cooperation with top tier semiconductor companies. This comb source is a single laser diode providing up to hundreds of stable lasing lines for WDM optical interconnects in computer applications.

"The race is on to reduce the cost of optical solutions for short reach interconnects to the level needed by high volume, mainstream computing applications," said Juergen Kurb, CEO of Innolume. "Our vision is to enable high-density, low-cost wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) transmission by using a single light source for all wavelengths - Innolume's comb-laser. We are delighted that SGCM, Applied Ventures and existing investors share our vision and recognize this unique opportunity to access a multibillion dollar market." Juergen adds that "this funding will also enable Innolume to rapidly introduce to the market novel quantum dot based devices aimed at specific high value medical applications."

"Since the computer industry has lately committed to merging silicon computing technology with laser-powered optical interconnects, we are excited that Innolume's innovation applies the silicon integration paradigm for the first time to these lasers, namely, increased functionality and higher performance at lower cost. This investment fits our model of identifying true innovators that have the potential to materially impact existing or emerging markets," said Ilia Dubinsky, SGCM Partner.

Peter Guellmann, Head of the Venture Investment Department of NRW.BANK and lead investor of Innolume´s Series B round, adds, "Over the last years Innolume has clearly shown its capability to enable new, fast growing applications with its unique technology. We're pleased that this investment will move Innolume into high volume manufacturing and will expand its market presence."

This Series C round follows the €4.4 million A round in 2003 led by PolyTechnos Venture Partners and the €6.5 million B round in 2006 led by NRW.BANK.

####

About Innolume
Innolume is the premier manufacturer of 'quantum dot'-based diode lasers and laser modules. Their natural lasing wavelengths cover the spectral window from 1100 nm to 1300 nm, which is outside the range of conventional semiconductor laser technology. This coverage enables novel industrial, medical and communications applications. Innolume's product list includes epitaxial wafers, laser diode chips/bars and fiber-coupled modules. Its most recent innovation is a unique light engine for future WDM optical interconnects in mainstream computing applications. This engine is a single diode laser that simultaneously emits many low-noise lasing lines, each of which can transmit high speed data. Innolume is based in Santa Clara, California and Dortmund, Germany. (www.innolume.com)

About S-Group Capital Management Limited

S-Group Capital Management is backed by Alexey Mordashov, CEO and major shareholder of Severstal Group. S-Group Capital Management considers a wide variety of investment opportunities ranging from venture capital investments in high technology companies to developing strategic partnerships with international conglomerates in Russia. Geography of investments includes Russia, US and Europe.

Alexey Mordashov is the CEO and major shareholder of OAO Severstal, an international, vertically integrated steel producer with a listing on the RTS and the London Stock Exchange. Severstal has a successful track record of acquiring and integrating high-quality assets in North America and Europe. In 2007, Severstal produced 17.5 million tons of steel. Revenues were $15.2 billion and EBITDA was $3.7 billion.

About NRW.BANK

As the development bank of North Rhine-Westphalia, NRW.BANK supports the federal state in its structural and economic tasks. The Bank is competition-neutral and uses the full range of lending tools - from traditional loans to customized advice. NRW.BANK employs approximately 1,100 people at its headquarters in Düsseldorf and Münster. It strengthens the high-technology sector in Northrhine-Westfalia with different financial instruments. This cluster attracts substantial interest from foreign investors. NRW.BANK especially supports investments in high technology.

For more information, please click here

Contacts:
Innolume
Juergen Kurb
+49 162 139 77 60 (CEO)

If you have a comment, please Contact us.

Issuers of news releases, not 7th Wave, Inc. or Nanotechnology Now, are solely responsible for the accuracy of the content.

Bookmark: