100G Startup Raises Another $20M

Optical transceiver startup Acacia Communications Inc., which focuses on the 100Gbit/s market, announced Wednesday that it's raised US$20 million. Summit Partners led the round and is also getting a board-of-directors seat, being filled by Peter Chung. Prior investors Matrix Partners, Commonwealth Capital Ventures and Egan Managed Capital were also included in the round. Acacia hasn't said how much venture money it's raised in total, and that's not changing with Wednesday's release. Why this matters
Optical funding is hard to come by, but the rise of coherent detection means optical transceivers emphasize electronics more than photonics, in a sense. Chip startups aren't exactly raking in the dough either, but semiconductors, compared with photonics, are a world more familiar to many investors. The money ensures Acacia will stick around a little while, indicating the number of options popping up around optical connectivity. Cisco Systems Inc. has developed its own 100Gbit/s transceiver, the CPAK format, and Arista Networks Inc. is shipping an on-board option that skips using transceivers. All of this means more competition (or in the case of Arista, different opportunities) for established module vendors including Avago Technologies Pte., Finisar Corp., JDS Uniphase Corp., NeoPhotonics Corp. and Oclaro Inc.. For more

— Craig Matsumoto, Managing Editor, Light Reading