This latest round includes $30 million of private equity investment and ~$10 million of bank lines of credit. This funding will allow Bridgelux to aggressively pursue its strategy for product development and market expansion, while continuing to drive its technology research and development activities.
This financing round was led by new investor VentureTech Alliance, while existing investors DCM, El Dorado Ventures, VantagePoint, Chrysalix Energy Venture Capital, and Harris & Harris Group participated with follow-on investments.
Bridgelux says that it wants to take advantage of future robust growth in the LED market and widespread interest in environmentally conscious, clean technologies. Market research firm Strategies Unlimited is forecasting a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20% over the next five years for the LED market.
High-brightness LEDs alone are projected to grow by 12% in just 2008, while new market opportunities also emerge around display backlighting, camera flash, architectural lighting, task lighting, commercial, and other general lighting applications. As a result of these burgeoning market segments and related applications, the overall market is expected to reach a total size of $11.4 billion by 2012.
Commenting on the latest round of funding, Bridgelux CEO Mark Swoboda noted, “This latest round of funding is an additional vote of confidence in our underlying business strategy and technology, which will enable us to rapidly expand beyond our LED chip product offerings and move aggressively into LED lighting products, expanding our market reach.”
