Siros VCSEL Plans Backed

SAN JOSE, Calif., March 7 -- Siros Technologies Inc. has completed a $17 million funding round from new and existing investors. Siros will use the funding to commercialize its high-power vertical cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) for metro access, metro core and long haul optical network applications. This investment brings the total capital commitment in Siros' optical transmission technology to more than $32 million. The round was led by new investor Austin Ventures and includes investments from other new entrants Applied Materials Ventures and Vortex Partners. Existing investors also participated in the round, including New Enterprise Associates, New Venture Partners, CMEA Ventures, Citigroup, Parker Price Venture Capital, Milepost Ventures and Lowenthal Capital.

"By combining the low cost of VCSEL-based technology with the power to support any optical networking application, Siros is breaking down the barriers to profitable deployments of high-performance optical networking systems as never before," said Ed Olkkola, general partner of Austin Ventures and a newly appointed Siros board member.