Funding round-up

25 Jun 2004

Firms making flexible solar cells and THz lasers are amongst this week's lucky recipients of VC and government funding.

•  Comlase of Sweden has closed it latest round of venture capital funding on SEK 12 million ($1.6 million). "We've had a tremendously positive response to our technology for increasing performance, reliability and yield in high-power semiconductor lasers," said Comlase's CEO Alfred Feitisch. "This funding will give us additional resources to capitalize on this interest and convert it into revenue."

•  The New York Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) is funding a project between Evident Technologies and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute to develop white light emitting LEDs made from quantum dot nanomaterials. According to Evident, the new LEDs will offer better color than current white LEDs allowing them to be used in the home or office.

•  Konarka Technologies of the US has secured $18 million in its series C round of venture capital financing. Since 2001, the firm has raised more than $32 million. Konarka develops photovoltaic products that are based on flexible plastic substrates. The photovoltaics use specially-designed nanomaterials which convert light into electricity with efficiencies close to 10%.

•  Spire, US, has been awarded a $99,000 phase 1 small business technology transfer research (STTR) project to develop quantum cascade terahertz lasers for applications in homeland security. The project is being funded by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) and involves the design of nano-engineered gallium arsenide layers.

•  Fiberstars, a leading supplier of fiber optic lighting, has received $1 million in funding from the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop a highly efficient distributed lighting system based on LEDs. The goal of the so-called HEDLight initiative is to combine LEDs that have a near daylight emission spectrum with large core plastic optical fiber.

•  Aixtron of Germany has received funding from the German government to establish an optoelectronics R&D training center in China. The rapid technology transfer program will include a short course on MOCVD covering electronic and optoelectronic devices, production issues, and the use of nanotechnology for improved devices. Students will also get the chance to work on gallium-nitride-on-silicon devices at Aixtron's Aachen headquarters.