BTI Photonics secures $12M investment
Contributing to the investment were BCE Capital, Lucent Venture Partners, Primaxis Technology Ventures, Kodiak Venture Partners and Purple Angel, an angel investor group consisting of mostly former Nortel executives.
In April 2000, Primaxis and Kodiak Venture Partners contributed CDN $2.5 million in financing. To date, Primaxis is the largest investor of BTI.
"BTI has a strong management team, a strong business plan and a product that is certain to grow in an emerging market. The experienced team has accomplished major technology breakthroughs for the hot DWDM marketplace. These are all the particulars we look for in potential investment opportunities," said David McCarthy, Managing Director, BCE Capital. "We are pleased to be working with BTI and the other investors who share our approach and expectations."
Recently, BTI has shifted its focus from fiber-optic network test equipment to the booming optical components marketplace by establishing a manufacturing facility in Ottawa. As the transition into the component market unfolds, BTI will be recruiting between 50 and 60 new employees over the next year.
"The global demand for DWDM components is very high right now. The financing enables us to leverage our proven capabilities and patented technologies to move into this exciting new area," said Dr. Vincent So, President, BTI Photonics. "With Internet traffic growing and demand for bandwidth increasing, the requirement for products to help alleviate network bottlenecks is high. BTI intends to become a market leader in filling this demand."
Ryan Hankin Kent, an industry market research and consulting firm, predicts the overall market for dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) components will skyrocket, growing from US $5 billion in 2000 to US $24 billion by 2004. The firm also forecasts that no product area within the market will grow by less than 80 per cent.
During this period, electronic mail and data files will account for just a fraction of Internet use. Upcoming applications, such as video on demand and remote data storage, will require high bandwidth, resulting in an increase of data moving across the Internet and more bottlenecks.
Given this market opportunity, BTI will focus its efforts on becoming a leading supplier of innovative modules and advanced components for the exploding dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) market in both the long-haul and metropolitan area network (MAN). DWDM is a technology that enables telecommunications carriers to increase bandwidth on existing fiber networks without laying more fiber.
At the new manufacturing plant, BTI will produce erbium-doped fiber amplifiers (EDFAs) and fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs). An EDFA is an optical amplifier that amplifies a light signal for propagation across long-distance fiber networks. EDFAs allow light signals to propagate as light rather than having to be converted to electrical signals and back to light signals across an entire fiber route. FBGs filter and redirect wavelengths of light.
About BTI Photonics Inc.
BTI Photonics Inc., incorporated in 1997, is a supplier of innovative modules and advanced components for the DWDM market. BTI's technology provides telecommunications companies with competitive, fiber-optic products for broadband systems in the MAN networks. For more information, visit www.btiphotonics.com/.
About BCE Capital
BCE Capital is the venture capital investment arm of BCE Inc., a global communications holding company. BCE operating arms include Bell Canada, Teleglobe, BCE Emergis and Bell Globemedia. BCE Capital invests in early-stage telecommunications technology companies in Canada and the U.S., through its offices in Toronto and Ottawa. BCE Capital investments include Sierra Wireless, Cosine Communications and Catena Networks. For more information, visit www.bcecapital.com.
About Lucent Venture Partners
Lucent Venture Partners, LLC. is a wholly-owned venture capital subsidiary of Lucent Technologies with offices in Palo Alto, CA; Waltham, MA; and Murray Hill, NJ. Formed in 1998, the group invests in early-stage technology companies in high-growth communications areas such as optical, data and wireless networking, semiconductors, communications software, professional services and e-commerce. For more information, visit www.lucentventurepartners.com.
About Primaxis Technology Ventures
Primaxis Technology Ventures Inc. partners with scientists and entrepreneurs to build world-leading technology companies. Primaxis provides seed capital, intellectual property, business and technology management expertise, and access to global networks. Primaxis was founded in November 1998 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada. For more information, visit www.primaxis.com.
About Kodiak Venture Partners
Kodiak Venture Partners is a Boston-based venture capital company committed to building innovative communication and Internet technology ventures. Kodiak's partners leverage their investment, leadership and entrepreneurial experience and broad industry network to deliver high value to entrepreneurs building the market leaders of the future. Kodiak's partners have a long history of successfully investing and launching companies beginning with Compaq, Lotus, Apple, Chipcom and more recently, with Aironet Wireless Communications, Extreme Packet Devices, Skystone Systems, Sedona Networks and Tropic Networks, among others. For more information, visit www.kodiakvp.com.