Israeli start-up Lambda Crossing announced it has completed the second half of its second financing round, raising $7.75 million. Lambda Crossing develops and markets advanced optical communications components.
German venture capital company West STAEG Partners led the round with a $4 million investment. Existing investors and Taiwan's China Development Industrial Bank also participated.
Lambda Crossing said the round would finance further development of its optical components. The company also announced it would soon begin beta trials with several leading US communications companies.
In June 2001, Lambda Crossing raised $13 million in the first half of the second financing round. That round was led by Young Associates of the UK, headed by former UK Minister of Trade and Industry Lord David Young. Other participants were Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ) spin-off Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A; KBI), and existing shareholders Gemini Israel Funds, Star Ventures Enterprises, Lucent Venture Partners and Garage.com. Lambda Crossing has raised $30 million to date.
Lambda Crossing optical components are used in WDM telecom networks. They allow flexible allocation of network resources, while reducing cost and expanding bandwidth. The company's target audience is major communications equipment suppliers.
Lambda Crossing was founded in 1999 by CTO Dr. Moti Margalit and chief scientist Prof. Meir Orenstein. Its chairwoman is former Ministry of Industry and Trade Chief Scientist Dr. Orna Berry. Lambda Crossing is one of Lucent Venture Partners’ investments in an Israeli company. Another was Chromatis Networks, which was later bought by Lucent Technologies (NYSE:LU) for $4.7 billion.
Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on June 25, 2002