Intense Photonics, developer of integrated optical components, has closed a £ 10.5 million ($16 million) series B funding round. Cazenove Private Equity lead the round with a syndicate containing first round investors--3i and ACT Venture Capital--together with two further European venture capital funds, FNI Venture Capital and TTP Ventures.
Intense Photonics will use the funds to accelerate the development of its product range and strengthen its marketing effort.
Intense Photonics has a fully operational semiconductor fabrication facility and produces multi-function optical chips. These multi-function chips provide significant cost advantages for telecommunication and other systems vendors through the reduction in component count and enable the creation of completely new functionality, say company representatives. Developing such components in conjunction with the systems houses requires significant capital equipment and several design iterations. The financial strength of the company will enable such developments to be undertaken with confidence.
Intense Photonics holds the intellectual property rights to QWI (Quantum Well Intermixing) component-processing techniques initially developed at the University of Glasgow. The company has received a SPUR Plus award from the Scottish Executive and has been awarded a Regional Selective Assistance (RSA) grant.
For more information about Intense Photonics (High Blantyre, Scotland), visit the company's Web site at www.intensephotonics.com.