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Alfalight receives $7 million in expansion funding

Investments to accelerate development of new diode laser products

Private Equity Fund Of Funds By WTN News • 08/18/05 Madison, Wis. - Alfalight, Inc., a manufacturer of diode lasers for industrial, defense, and telecommunications markets worldwide, has received $7 million in expansion funding, the company reported on Wednesday.

The financing package was led by GF Private Equity Group, LLC and included all of Alfalight's major previous investors. Those include ARCH Venture Partners, Advanced Technology Ventures, EDF Ventures, CenterPoint Ventures, Venture Investors, Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation and Advantage Capital Partners.

The financing complements two major defense-related projects the company announced earlier this month - a $4.5 million research and development contract from the Army Research Laboratory (ARL) in Maryland and $1.4 million in funding from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency for in funding for Phase II of the Super High Efficiency Diode Sources program.

Read about those projects here:
Alfalight awarded $4.5 million Army Research contract
Alfalight garners $1.4 million defense funding for diode program

The new investment will fund the expansion of product lines based on Alfalight's portfolio of high-power diode laser technologies that include super-high efficiency, wavelength stabilization and high brightness.

The company's diode lasers are used in industrial, defense and telecommunications applications including fiber lasers, optical amplifiers, and diode-pumped solid-state lasers.

The new round of funding marks significant milestones for the company, said company president and CEO Mohan Warrior. Alfalight has completed five sequential quarters of commercial revenue growth and has engaged several significant research and development programs, he noted. One such program is the Super High Efficiency Diode Sources (SHEDS) program, in which Alfalight achieved world-record diode performance and recently qualified for additional funding from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

"This additional funding is a vote of confidence in our technology, products and execution capabilities by the investment community," said Warrior.

"Alfalight has proved its dedication to successfully commercializing innovative laser diode technologies," said Gen. Ronald R. Fogleman, retired Air Force chief of staff and advisor to the GF Private Equity Group. "This team is on track to deliver diode laser capabilities that meet existing and emerging requirements for industrial and defense laser systems."

"We are excited to add Alfalight to our growing portfolio of emerging technology companies," said Dave Fallace, vice president at the GF Private Equity Group. "Alfalight is poised to deliver significant value to their target markets."

Alfalight, which was founded by three UW-Madison faculty members in 1998, has exclusive license to patents that include high-power narrow-spectrum stabilized lasers, single-mode lasers, and short-wavelength lasers. Its products are based on technology developed in the UW-Madison Reed Center for Photonics.

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