ASIP raises $16 million in initial Series C funding

22 July 2003 Somerset, NJ Lightwave -- ASIP Inc., a developer of photonic integrated circuits for next-generation optical systems, has raised $16 million in the initial installment of its Series C financing round. ASIP will use the proceeds of this financing to enable the fulfillment of customer commitments, to further development of its manufacturing infrastructure, and to continue product innovation.

Nokia Venture Partners led the Series C round and was joined by other new investors, Finaventures and Intel Capital, as well as original investor, Redpoint Ventures. This brings the total equity investment in ASIP to $23.5 million. Redpoint Ventures and Multilink Corp. provided the Series A and B investments totaling $7.5 million, which were announced in July 2000.

"ASIP stands out in the industry as a company with a technology platform perfectly suited to achieving the vision of low-cost optical networking," said Jonathan Ebinger, general partner at Nokia Venture Partners. "In addition, ASIP is already delivering world-class products to several of the leading providers of next-generation transceivers. ASIP is truly a company for the future."

Brad Jones, founding partner at Redpoint Ventures, said, "Redpoint is a long-term supporter of ASIP. We have a clear vision of ASIP's potential and we're pleased to welcome Finaventures, Intel, and Nokia Venture Partners to the investment team."

ASIP is supplying high-speed, integrated lasers to companies developing small-form-factor transceivers such as XFP, X2, and XPAK. All of ASIP's products are built on its patented Asymmetric TwinGuide (ATG) technology platform. ATG is intended to enable significant improvements in the density, cost, and design cycle of photonic integrated circuits. For more on ASIP and ATG, see the article from Lightwave's December 2002 issue.