Ghent University (UGent) and imec
today announced the creation of Caliopa, a spin-off from their world leading
Photonics Research Group. An initial 2 million Euro in funding was raised from
Baekeland, Fidimec, PMV-Vinnof, a private investor and the founders. Caliopa
will develop and market advanced silicon photonics based optical transceivers
for the data and telecommunications markets.
According to the latest Market Forecast from LightCounting LLC, the premier
market research firm for optical communications, the global sales of optical
transceivers will reach $2.4 billion in 2010, with the market posting a 13%
compound annual growth rate (CAGR) between 2011 and 2014, as the industry catches
up with the steadily growing demand for bandwidth.
“Multiple optical components can be replaced with a single optical chip
by using silicon photonics allowing us to develop small, highly integrated and
low power optical transceivers. The ability to make these silicon photonics
components at standard CMOS manufacturing facilities also makes it commercially
very attractive” commented Martin De Prycker, CEO of Caliopa. “Key
potential customers have expressed great interest in Caliopa’s solutions
stating that port density and power consumption are the major concerns in driving
the growth of optical networks.”
Caliopa will be able to build on the know-how, intellectual property and experience
of years of research by the world renowned Photonics Research Group at Ghent
University and imec led by Prof. Roel Baets. In addition, it will use the expertise
in silicon processing of the world-leading nanoelectronics research center imec.
To develop its first products, the company raised 2 million Euro in funding
from a consortium of investors led by Baekeland, Fidimec and PMV-Vinnof.
Caliopa currently counts 7 team members, composed of technical experts from
imec/UGent and industry veterans with over 75 years cumulative management experience
in the high tech industry. The company is planning to double this team in the
next 12 months.