NanoOpto scores $16 million

NanoOpto said Monday that it raised $16 million in its first round of funding. Bessemer Venture Partners and VC firm Morgenthaler Ventures led the round, with New Enterprise Associates and U.S. Trust's Excelsior Venture Partners III also pitching in. NanoOpto makes chips for optical telecommunications equipment. The company has already shipped a prototype of its chip to prospective customers for testing. It is also aiming to start producing chips in volume by mid-2002 through the manufacturing plant it is building at its Somerset, N.J., headquarters. Princeton University engineering professor Stephen Chou co-founded NanoOpto last year and serves as the company's chairman.

Jan. 2, 2002 4:43 p.m. PT

NanoOpto said Monday that it raised $16 million in its first round of funding.

Bessemer Venture Partners and VC firm Morgenthaler Ventures led the round, with New Enterprise Associates and U.S. Trust's Excelsior Venture Partners III also pitching in.

NanoOpto makes chips for optical telecommunications equipment. The company has already shipped a prototype of its chip to prospective customers for testing. It is also aiming to start producing chips in volume by mid-2002 through the manufacturing plant it is building at its Somerset, N.J., headquarters. Princeton University engineering professor Stephen Chou co-founded NanoOpto last year and serves as the company's chairman.