Polatis, a UK-based photonic switch manufacturer, has secured $8.4 million in its second round of funding, led by Prelude Trust plc. Existing investors Alta Berkeley and 3i also participated, in addition to new investor, EonTech Ventures.
Polatis is developing all-optical (OOO) switching solutions in partnership with telecommunications equipment manufacturers, enabling them to deliver higher capacity and lower cost systems to carriers worldwide.
"The Internet has become indispensable and user expectations are continuing to grow, putting optical networks under increasing pressure," explains Dr. Bob Hook, director of Prelude Trust plc. "Low-loss optical switches are a fundamental requirement for cost effective management of network traffic and in this respect Polatis has a world-class product. Prelude prides itself in taking an active management role and we look forward to working with Polatis to make the company a commercial success," he adds.
Polatis raised a first round investment package of $3 million in December 2000, which enabled it to develop a unique technology platform, Micro Actuation Sensing System (MASS) and its <1-dB all-optical switch.
For more information about Polatis (Cambridge, UK), visit the company's Web site at www.polatis.com.