Funding round-up

16 Jan 2004

Firms specializing in terahertz imaging and high-brightness LEDs are amongst this week’s lucky recipients of venture capital funding.

•  TeraView, a UK maker of terahertz imaging equipment, has secured £6million (EURO 8.7 million, $10.87 million) in second round venture capital funding. The round was led by Amadeus Capital Partners and included first round investors TTP Ventures, Cambridge Gateway and Quester. “TeraView is without doubt the world’s leading company in this important new field. It has the potential to become one of Cambridge’s greatest success stories,” said TTP’s chairman David Connell.

•  ACOL Technologies of Switzerland has attracted EURO 9 million in first round funding from Amadeus Captial, Apax Partners and Mint Capital. The Geneva-based firm, a spin-out from Corvette Light of Russia, develops high-brightness LEDs for use in applications such as road and rail signals, outdoor signage and general illumination.

•  OmniGuide Communications, a US developer of hollow-core cylindrical photonic bandgap fibers, has announced $15 million in series C funding. The firm has now raised a total of $29.5million. New investors were Westbury Partners and Gainesborough Investments.

•  MicroDisplay has secured $18 million in its third round of financing. The US firm develops high-definition imaging components based on liquid-crystal-on-silicon technology. MicroDisplay says it will use the cash to ramp up manufacturing, expand its customer-engineering support and double its research workforce.

•  Calinet Networks of the US has raised $20 million in its fourth funding round. The company will use the cash to fund further development of its intelligent photonic switching technology. This cash injection raises the total capital invested in Calient to over a quarter of a billion dollars. The company hopes to raise a further $10 million through a second closing scheduled for March 2004.