9 February 2011

LED firm Bridgelux raises a further $21m

According to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), LED chip and lighting array maker Bridgelux Inc of Livermore, CA, USA (which claims to be the only vertically integrated maker of LED solid-state light sources specifically for the lighting industry) has raised $20.74m of a planned $21m round of financing, led by existing investors Vantage Point Venture Partners and DCM.

Bridgelux has now raised total venture capital of about $135m, including $2.5m in angel funding in 2002, $8.55m in May 2005, $23m in August 2007, and $80m in Series D financing, including $30m (plus a $10m line of credit from investors) in a first tranche in April 2008 — used to develop new products (some of which were rolled out in 2009) — and an extra $50m in January 2010. Other existing investors include Chrysalix Energy Venture Capital, El Dorado Ventures, Harris & Harris Group, and VentureTech Alliance.

After originally focusing on designing and making its power LED chips based on ITO/InGaN (indium tin oxide/indium gallium nitride), Bridgelux launched its first LED array product line in January 2009, followed that May by a Lighting Services Group to offer a range of solid-state lighting design and support services, and in March 2010 by the ‘plug-and-play’ Helieon Sustainable Light Module (jointly developed with Molex Inc of Lisle, IL, USA) for industrial and commercial building owners. Last October, Bridgelux also extended the standard 1-year and 3-year warranties on all its integrated LED arrays and light sources to 5 years.

In January 2010, the firm also recruited former Seagate CEO Bill Watkins as its CEO to assist in scaling up production. Last year, Bridgelux expanded by merging its two San Francisco Bay Area manufacturing operations in Sunnyvale into its new manufacturing & headquarters complex in Livermore (officially opened last October).

The latest funds are likely to be used to continue the scale-up of production, with the aim of lowering costs in order to target the residential lighting market with a product selling for less than $20 per unit (and nearer to $10, to compete with incandescent light bulbs costing $2–10 each).

See related items:

Bridgelux boosts Series D financing round by extra $50m to $80m

Bridgelux closes $40m series D funding round

BridgeLux raises $23m in third-round financing

Tags: Bridgelux LEDs

Visit: www.bridgelux.com

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