25 October 2011

Bridgelux raises extra $15 m to accelerate GaN-on-Si development

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 closed an additional $15m in financing, raised specifically to further accelerate research, development, and scaling of its GaN-on-silicon LED chip technologies, targeted for commercialization in 2013.

Bridgelux says that the financing round, which was oversubscribed, was quickly filled out by existing financial and strategic investors in response to company reports indicating that additional capital could further accelerate its GaN-on-Si program. Included in the round are VantagePoint Capital Partners, DCM, El Dorado Ventures, Novus Energy Partners, IFA, Chrysalix, Harris & Harris Group, Craton Equity Partners, Jebsen Asset Management, and Passport Capital.

Previously, in early August, Bridgelux raised $60m in a Series E financing round led by Los Angeles-based Craton Equity Partners. This took the total amount of venture capital raised to about $180m. 

“By continuing to drive down the cost of solid-state solutions for general lighting, Bridgelux is helping to expand the market for these solutions, which we expect to grow from $3bn in 2011 to more than $25bn in 2015,” says CEO Bill Watkins. “This additional capital will further accelerate our breakthrough development efforts in producing commercial-grade LEDs on silicon while we continue to deliver the industry’s leading GaN-on-sapphire array solutions,” he claims.

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. In May 2011, Bridgelux launched the third generation of its LED Arrays.

See related items:

Bridgelux raises $60m in equity financing round led by Craton

LED firm Bridgelux raises a further $21m

Tags: Bridgelux LEDs GaN-on-Si

Visit: www.bridgelux.com