January 12, 2006 Caesarea, Israel -- ColorChip, a manufacturer of glass-based planer lightwave circuit (PLC) chips and modules for FTTH networks, has closed a $9.5 million financing round led by Bessemer Venture Partners and joined by Motorola Ventures and European Venture Partners. Also participating in the round were existing investors Eurofund, Polytechnos, and Walden.
The company says the proceeds will enable it to move from development to mass production, expanding efforts in marketing and sales and R&D for applications in new markets.
"We are thrilled to have, as a major investor, Bessemer Venture Partners, who are experienced investors in the communications field with an excellent track record, including several recent successful investments in Israel," remarks Moshe Price, CEO of ColorChip. "We are honored by the strategic investment from Motorola, a global communications leader."
ColorChip is currently shipping the first samples of its Meteor II FTTX SOG transceivers for optical network terminals (ONT/ONU) for GPON and EPON systems. The company says it is also distributing PLC splitters - based on its proprietary Ion-Exchange process - mainly to the FTTX, CATV, analog, and digital PONs markets.
"Bessemer is pleased to lead this financing in ColorChip," concludes Bob Goodman, general partner at Bessemer Venture Partners. "ColorChip has a unique PLC technology in the field of transceivers for FTTH and other applications, and we believe that ColorChip will become a leading player in this fast growing market ".
