The components industry itself may be in the doldrums, but interest in automated systems to assemble components prevails, judging by this week’s announcement of a $20 million funding round for kSaria Corp., a startup in this field (see KSaria Raises $20 Million).

“We think that this is the time to act on automation. If we wait for the economy to look better, we’ll be two years too late,” says Douglas Kingsley, managing director of the Boston office of Advent International, the company that led the round.

"We help companies move from people-centric to process-centric manufacturing,” says Jim McEleney, VP of sales and support at kSaria. That helps companies improve efficiency, the current priority. It will also help them respond quickly when demand bounces back up again.

McEleney says kSaria will use its new funds to develop its products and expand its sales and manufacturing force. The company’s first assembly system, the Prima Fiber Pigtail Fabrication System, is already shipping, and its next product, the Presta Fiber Prep and Fusion Splicing System, will be in production in the first quarter of 2002, the company says.

Investors from kSaria's $15 million first round of funding, raised last September, also participated in the latest round. They include Boulder Ventures Ltd., North Bridge Venture Partners, Spinner Asset Management LLC, and U.S. Venture Partners.

— Eugénie Larson, special to Light Reading
http://www.lightreading.com