SOUTHAMPTON, England–(BUSINESS WIRE)–July 29, 2003–SPI (Southampton Photonics), a developer and manufacturer of high power fiber lasers and components for the industrial, aerospace, analytical,sensing, and communications sectors, today announced that it has completed its Series B funding. The capital will be used primarily to accelerate the company’s sales and marketing activities and toprovide working capital.
The financing includes the existing investors of Amadeus Capital Partners, The Infrastructure Fund, Interwest Partners, Quantum Technology Partners, and Sevin Rosen Funds, along with Advent Venture Partners, a leading UK Venture Capital Firm. Advent Venture Partners will join the SPI board.
SPI uses its proprietary technology for the manufacture of fiber lasers, amplifiers, and fiber grating based products, which have applications in a wide range of market sectors including industrial, aerospace, analytical, sensing, and communications. SPI’s unique, patented technology enables it to design and manufacture high power lasers which can generate extremely high output powers – the company recently reported 600 watts from a single fiber laser (the highest ever recorded(a)) – with very high beam quality. In addition, these lasers are smaller, more efficient, and offer lower total cost than existing solutions.
Commenting on the fund raising, David Parker, CEO of Southampton Photonics, said: “We are delighted to close this financing at this point in the development of SPI. The new focus we have brought to the company is gaining momentum in the marketplace, and to have added Advent to our group of already high calibre investors is a strong endorsement for the business. The funds raised ensure we have sufficient capital on hand to execute our business plan and to deliver a portfolio of differentiated products to our customers.”
(a)More detail can be found in the 23rd June 2003 press release at http://www.spioptics.com/news.htm
Notes to Editors:
About SPI (Southampton Photonics)
SPI designs and manufactures optical components, delivering state-of-the art products that are driving down the cost of ownership for its customers in the industrial, aerospace, analytical, communications and sensing markets.
SPI’s innovations in high-power fiber lasers, amplification and wavelength management are underpinned by its unique, patented specialty fiber technology and manufacturing capability. SPI’s current product range includes: fiber lasers and laser arrays, high-power optical amplifiers and sources, filters (fiber Bragg gratings), combining optics and dispersion compensators. SPI’s gratings have the world’s lowest distortion and combined with their ultra-low dispersion, make them very easy to use.
About Advent Venture Partners
Advent Venture Partners, based in London, was founded in 1981 and is one of the longest established technology venture capital firms. Advent specialises in information technology (software, hardware, communications and IT services) and healthcare (biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and devices) investments in Europe and the US.
Advent invests up to $35 million in companies from start-up through to pre-flotation stage. Advent Venture Partners and its associates currently have total funds under management in excess of $700 million. Since 1981, the company has funded over 180 companies in the UK, Europe and the US of which 41 were taken public. www.adventventures.com
About Amadeus Capital Partners
Amadeus, www.amadeuscapital.com, is a specialist venture capital firm backing new technologies. Founded in 1997, Amadeus manages GBP288 million and has backed 40 companies in the UK and continental Europe, covering computer hardware and software, mobile and fixed communications technologies and new media. The firm, which has offices in London and Cambridge, UK, has established a reputation among entrepreneurs for Silicon Valley-style, hands on assistance and ‘door opening’, and among investors for proving that early stage technology investing can be profitable in the long term. Amadeus’ investments include Cambridge Silicon Radio, producing “Bluetooth” single chip radios for short range connections, Clearswift, an email content security business and Plastic Logic, developing plastic circuits for mass applications. Successful realisations from the Amadeus portfolio include Entropic, bought by Microsoft and Element-14, bought by Broadcom Corporation.
About InterWest Partners
InterWest Partners (www.interwest.com), founded in 1979, is a leading diversified venture capital firm focused on building long-term relationships with entrepreneurs and portfolio companies. With $1.6B capital under management, and a current investment fund of $750 million, InterWest’s experienced partners bring together deep domain knowledge in Life Sciences and Information Technology.
InterWest Partners has consistently helped grow the most influential companies in Information Technology and Life Sciences. The firm’s investments in Life Sciences include: ArthroCare, Corixa, Cor, Inspire Pharmaceuticals, IntraLase, Spinal Dynamics, and TheraSense.
The firm’s investments in Information Technology include: CIENA, Copper Mountain Networks, Lightera (acquired by CIENA), PlaceWare (acquired by Microsoft), SiTera (acquired by Vitesse), Silicon Graphics, Stratacom (acquired by Cisco) and Xilinx.
InterWest Partners has offices in Menlo Park, California and Dallas, Texas.
About Quantum Technology Partners
Quantum Technology Partners, located in Silicon Valley, invests in early stage Information Technology and Life Sciences companies in the U.S. and Europe. Quantum was founded in 2000 and co-invests with leading venture capital firms.
www.quantumtp.com
About Sevin Rosen Funds
Sevin Rosen Funds is a top-tier venture capital firm with a track record of funding successful companies since 1981. The partnership has consistently made early stage investments in pioneering technologies and companies with the potential to create new markets. The most recent fund, Sevin Rosen Fund VIII is capitalized at $600 million. Compaq, Lotus, Cypress, Citrix, CIENA and Capstone Turbine are some of the firm ‘s successful lPOs. Sevin Rosen Funds has offices in Dallas, Palo Alto, Austin, and San Diego. For more information go to www.srfunds.com.
