29 July 2003 Southampton, UK Lightwave--Southampton Photonics (SPI), a developer and manufacturer of high power fiber lasers and components today announced that it has completed its Series B funding. The capital will be used to accelerate the company's sales and marketing activities and to provide working capital.
The financing includes the existing investors of Amadeus Capital Partners, The Infrastructure Fund, Interwest Partners, Quantum Technology Partners, and Sevin Rosen Funds, along with Advent Venture Partners. Advent Venture Partners will join the SPI board.
SPI uses its proprietary technology for the manufacture of fiber lasers, amplifiers, and fiber grating based products. The company's patented technology enables it to design and manufacture high power lasers which can generate extremely high output powers - 600 watts from a single fiber laser (the highest ever recorded*)with very high beam quality. In addition, these lasers are smaller, more efficient, and offer lower total cost than existing solutions.
Commenting on the fund raising, David Parker, chief executive officer of SPI, said: "We are delighted to close this financing at this point in the development of SPI. The new focus we have brought to the company is gaining momentum in the marketplace, and to have added Advent to our group of already high calibre investors is a strong endorsement for the business. The funds raised ensure we have sufficient capital on hand to execute our business plan and to deliver a portfolio of differentiated products to our customers."
SPI's innovations in high-power fiber lasers, amplification, and wavelength management are underpinned by its patented specialty fiber technology and manufacturing capability. The product range includes: fiber lasers and laser arrays, high-power optical amplifiers and sources, filters (fiber Bragg gratings), combining optics and dispersion compensators.