Luxcore Secures $10 million in First-round Funding
Atlanta-based optical networking company will revolutionize the world's communication networks with its new class of all-optical switching systems.
SAN FRANCISCO (OptiCon 2000), July 31, 2000 - Luxcore, a developer
of optical internetworking systems, today announced at OptiCon 2000 that
it has secured $10 million in first-round funding from investors including
Metropolis Venture Partners and Delta Asset Management. The company, formerly
Synchordia Networks, also unveiled its new name and logo at the trade
show.
Incorporated in July of 1999, Luxcore is revolutionizing the world's communications
networks by defining and delivering optical internetworking systems based
on new photonic routing and switching technology. The company's vision
of the all-optical Internet will eliminate the need for electrical regeneration
of optical signals, ensuring the fastest, most reliable communications
across metro and backbone networks.
"As it stands today, the Internet cannot scale to accommodate the
bandwidth demand for voice, data and video content on the current fiber
optic telephone network infrastructure," said Gerald Ramdeen, founder
and chief executive officer of Luxcore. "The capacity carried by
regional and national networks is growing at rates surpassing 100 percent
per year and is largely the result of an increase in the number of Internet
users and higher bandwidth connections becoming available to them."
Ramdeen also points out that with Internet traffic doubling every 100
days, carriers continue to search for a more efficient way to deal with
this increase in traffic.
"To date, carriers have dealt with capacity demand by scaling their
backbones with Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) equipment,"
said Scott Clavenna of Pioneer Consulting, Cambridge, Mass. "This
has been sufficient in adding bandwidth on a link-by-link basis, but it
has not addressed the subsequent need for optical layer flexibility, configurability
and high-speed restoration. A new class of optical switching system is
required for this functionality, opening a long-term market opportunity
for new entrants."
Unlike short-term or incremental solutions, Luxcore's solution is not a band-aid to fixing the existing Internet infrastructure. Instead, it provides an instant quantum leap, making the possibilities of convergent communications a reality today while providing an effective growth path to the all-optical Internet.
"Optical networking is a top priority for Metropolis Venture Partners, and we're confident that Luxcore will have a profound impact on the future of optical network architectures. The company's technology and the domain expertise of its management team should establish Luxcore as a clear leader in this explosive market," said Jonathan Lipton, managing partner at Metropolis Venture Partners. "Luxcore has a vision and strategy that will finally make the elusive all-optical Internet a reality."
About Metropolis Venture Partners
Metropolis Venture Partners is a New York based venture capital fund
created to provide value-added resources, as well as capital investment,
to telecommunications, new media, technology and Internet companies at
all stages of corporate development. Metropolis seeks to invest in companies
that have strategic, structural or technological competitive advantages
that will enable them to become dominant, profitable and sustainable franchises
in rapidly growing markets. For further information, please e-mail inquiries
to info@metropoliscapital.com or visit www.metropoliscapital.com.
About Delta Asset Management
Delta Asset Management Group, Inc. manages assets for high net worth individuals
through several limited partnerships and managed accounts. Its primary
limited partnership, Delta Enhanced Equity Fund, L.P. is a crossover fund
investing in both the private and public markets. Its private investment
approach focuses on early stage funding of companies engaging in developing
innovative technologies, while its public investment focus is geared towards
option strategies in a diverse portfolio of companies. For further information
on Delta Asset Management, please call 212.546.0795 or e-mail inquiries
to awolf@deltaasset.com.
About Luxcore
Formerly Synchordia Networks, Luxcore designs, manufacturers and markets
optical internetworking systems that direct voice, data and video traffic
across fiber optic networks entirely in the optical domain without the
need for electrical regeneration. Incorporated in July of 1999 as Synchordia
Networks, Luxcore is based in Atlanta and led by Internet technologists,
top system architects and optical networking engineers from datacom equipment
manufacturers including Lucent Technologies. Luxcore is a member of the
Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC) and the Yamacraw Design
Center. For more information on Luxcore, please visit the company's website
at www.luxcore.com.
Contact:
Ashley J. Bell
Director of Communications
770.274.2708
abell@luxcore.com
