13 September 2002 -- Lightconnect has raised USD9m in third-round financing, led by Sevin Rosen Funds. Other participating investors include Incubic, Morgenthaler, US Trust, US Venture Partners and Optical Capital Group. This takes total investment to USD34m.
The new funding will be used to expand Lightconnect 's MEMS-based product portfolio, which includes variable optical attenuators, dynamic gain equalizers and dynamic channel equalizers. It will also fuel expansion through increased sales and marketing efforts.
"Dynamic components will serve as the building blocks for the truly intelligent optical network of tomorrow," said Sevin Rosen Funds partner Steve Domenik.
"During the past year, we have brought on more than 50 customers and have achieved continuous quarter-to-quarter increases in revenue," said Lightconnect president and CEO Peter O Clark.
* Lightconnect has increased production of its VOAs by 300% in the last quarter. "New automation initiatives have allowed us to boost productivity, reduce costs and shorten delivery times," said vice president of operations Sushil Shah.
This is in response to a surge in demand for its recently launched Fast VOA 4000 by several optical systems manufacturers, it says.
With 40dB attenuation range, this latest addition to its Fast VOA product line can block the transmission of light when no voltage is applied and reduce the amount of attenuation as the applied voltage is increased, providing additional protection for optical networks.