GLO AB closes SEK 82M series B investment round

GLO AB, a nanowire semiconductor LED developer based in Lund, Sweden, has announced the closing of an SEK 82 million (approx. $11.6 million) Series B investment round.

SEM image of GLO nanowire LED GLO employs vertically-oriented heterostructured nanowires as light-emitting diodes (see image). Bo Pedersen, CEO of GLO, said, “We are developing LEDs at levels of brightness suitable for general illumination applications and with efficacies equal to or better than current state-of-the-art planar chips, yet at simultaneously dramatically lower cost by using readily available, low-cost and large area silicon substrates with mass-production friendly technologies.

Pedersen added that the Series B funding will enable GLO to complete initial product development and begin scaled transition to the pilot production stage on large-area silicon wafers.

Founded in September 2005, GLO is a technology spin-out from the Nanometer Structure Consortium (“nmC”) at Lund University. It is focused on commercialization — in the field of LEDs for general illumination — of the heterostructured nanowire technology research of Lars Samuelson, Professor of Solid State Physics, and his team at Lund University.

GLO controls a “significant portfolio” of patents and patent applications covering relevant innovations made by the Lund team and by GLO itself. The company will continue to enjoy a close working relationship with nmC, and will have access under contract to relevant labs and intellectual property developed there.

“GLO’s unique approach within the emerging field of solid-state lighting, based upon nanowire technology on silicon substrates, is a very promising candidate for low-cost, mass production of ultra-high brightness LEDs, which in turn will lead to mass market adoption of energy-saving LEDs for commercial and residential illumination,” said Tore Schiøtz, CEO of Hafslund Venture.

Investors

Bo Pedersen said, “We are delighted to welcome as new investors both Hafslund Venture AS, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hafslund ASA, and Agder Energi Venture AS, a unit of Agder Energi AS.”

Both Hafslund and Agder are major power generation companies in the Nordic region, and both have substantial, successful investment track-records with a renewable energy focus. Hafslund Venture, for example, made its first investment in Renewable Energy Corporation in 1998, and is today the second largest shareholder in a company that has become one of the leading PV Solar companies in the world.

Current investors joining in the round in GLO include funds advised by venture capital firms Provider Venture Partners of Stockholm, Teknoinvest and Nano Future Invest of Oslo, joined by LU Innovation together with LUAB, the investment arm of Lund University (Sweden), as major owners, along with the founders and employees of GLO.

Full details of the investors can be found in the company’s press release.