ColorChip Inc., a maker of glass-based optical communications components and modules, has acquired the optical plant of Lambda Crossing, which closed down a month ago. ColorChip has completed the development stage of its product, and is moving onto the production stage, using Lambda Crossing’s plant and equipment to mass produce processors.
ColorChip is now expanding as it switches from development to mass production. The acquisition of an existing plant gives it an opportunity to significantly increase its production capacity at low cost, as well as saving precious time.
ColorChip chairman and CEO Moshe Price said, “ColorChip views this acquisition as a one-time opportunity to join leading access system supplies for the Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) market, which has been growing rapidly lately. FTTH will become the main platform for telecommunications providers to provide triple play video, VoIP, and high-speed Internet at speeds of hundreds of megabytes per second to and from the home.”
ColorChip was founded in 2001. Its founders include Lumenis founder Dr. Shimon Eckhouse, and ColorChip chief scientist Prof. Shlomo Ruschin, of the Tel Aviv University School of Engineering. The company’s products are based on Ion-Exchange PLC waveguides and its proprietary SystemOnGlass (SOG) wafer scale technology. The process enables for the first time mass production of high-quality low-cost optical processors with characteristics similar to semiconductor processors. The company has 21 employees at its offices in Or Akiva. ColorChip has raised $9 million to date from Israeli funds Eurofund, Walden Israel, and Germany’s PolyTechnos. The company is now carrying out another financing round.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on August 16, 2005