EATONTOWN, N.J. -- Alphion Corporation, a leading provider of enabling photonic technologies for the deployment of all-optical networks, today announced that it has completed its second round of private financing totaling $15 million. The investment was led by The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. and Tallwood Venture Capital. First-round investors Battery Ventures and Cypress Semiconductor, also participated in this round of funding, bringing the aggregate venture investment to $32 million. Alphion will use the funds to complete the development of its suite of products for next-generation photonic networks. The product line will be formally announced in the second half of 2002. "It is extremely gratifying to receive the backing and financial support of partners such as Goldman Sachs, Tallwood Venture Capital, Battery Ventures, and Cypress Semiconductor," said Dr. Bharat P. Dave, chairman, president and CEO of Alphion Corporation. "This investment is a significant endorsement of the Alphion value proposition and team." Alphion is completing development of proprietary technologies and products that eliminate the expensive electronic intervention required by today's optical networks. Once complete, Alphion's product suite will help service providers to deploy cost-effective, pure photonic networks that support next-generation services. "Alphion's photonic technology has the potential to reduce the capital costs and operational expenses associated with building and maintaining optical networks," said Abraham Bleiberg, a managing director at Goldman Sachs. "With technology that supports transparent migration from 10 gigabit to 40 gigabit services, and beyond, Alphion could deliver an important building block of future communication networks." Alphion Corp.