 |
 |
17 Jun 2002
C Speed Corporation, a MEMS start-up based in Santa Clara, CA, has announced a USD 6.3 million investment in its first round of funding.
C Speed was founded in 1997 and makes MEMS-based optical cross connect systems that can be scaled from 32 x 32 to 256 x 256 and beyond with the same mirror architecture.
Eric Wesoff of C Speed said that there has been enormous interest in the company's products from telecom equipment providers. "There are a certain number of premier equipment providers and we're talking to most of them," he said. The company will introduce beta units in September 2000 at the ECOC 2000 conference and exhibition in Munich, Germany. Following the introduction of these beta units, the company plans to start manufacturing in the first quarter of 2001.
The company currently has about 12 employees but this will increase to about 20 over the next few weeks. By the end of the year there should be about 25 employees.
The main investor was Advent International, one of the world's largest private equity firms. Other prominent co-investors include Dado Banatao, who has invested in many Silicon Valley start-ups.
The financing will be used for product development and business development. Greg Smitherman and John Rockwell from Advent will join C Speed's board of directors.
SH
 |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| © 2024 SPIE Europe |
|
