10 September 2003 Somerset, NJ Lightwave-- NanoOpto Corp., which is applying proprietary nano-fabrication technology to the design and high volume manufacture of nano-optic devices for optical systems and networks, announced today that it has closed on an additional $7 million, completing its Series "B" round of venture financing. This new round of financing comes from existing equity partners Morgenthaler Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners, Draper Fisher Jurvetson Gotham Ventures, Draper Fisher Jurvetson New England Ventures, U.S. Trust's Excelsior Venture Partners III, L.L.C., and the Harris & Harris Group. The additional $7 million, which brings the total financing raised to date to $27 million, will enable NanoOpto to continue technology and product commercialization and advance into the revenue stage.
"NanoOpto is both pleased and excited to have the support of some of the best regarded venture capital investors in the world," says Barry Weinbaum, president and chief executive officer of NanoOpto. "These investors recognize our enormous potential, the disruptive nature of our technology, and the breadth of market applications we can address. We plan to use this new round of investment to build on the exciting customer traction already created through the introduction of new products and to ramp our operations."
With this new round of financing, Chip Meakem of Draper Fisher Jurvetson Gotham Ventures and Todd Hixon of Draper Fisher Jurvetson New England join NanoOpto's Board of Directors. They join existing Board members Ed Zschau (chairman), Barry Weinbaum(president and chief executive officer), Greg Blonder (Morgenthaler Ventures), Howard Lee, and Phil Anthony.
NanoOpto is creating novel classes of optical components by manipulating light with nano-scale structures to provide increased functionality, easier integration, lower total cost, and higher volume capabilities in comparison to traditional optical devices. NanoOpto has commercialized this unique technology through their proprietary optical component designs and internally developed manufacturing methods for a broad range of markets, including optical data transfer, telecommunications, sensors, and displays.