Optichron Raises $12 Million

Optichron Inc., a Fremont, Calif.-based developer of signal linearization technology, has raised $12 million in Series C funding. Return backers include Battery Ventures, TL Ventures, VentureTech Alliance and U.S. Venture Partners. The company also named Tom Carlson as CFO.

PRESS RELEASE
Optichron, Inc., a leader in signal linearization technology, today announced that Thomas E. Carlson has joined the company as chief financial officer (CFO). Carlson comes to the company with more than 30 years of successful leadership in financial and operations management from start-ups to the Fortune 500, especially in the areas of signal processing and networking equipment and components, where he has successfully directed all aspects of financing, IPOs and merger and acquisition activities as well as control of business operations. He will lead Optichron's financial strategies and management as the company expands the development and marketing of integrated circuits that embed its proprietary signal processing technology. Optichron's universal solutions eliminate the naturally occurring nonlinear distortion that degrades all types of signal processing systems, enabling customers to realize large gains in system cost, efficiency, and performance in applications including wireless systems such as cellular telephony, mobile WiMAX, and GPS; automotive anti-collision radar, and Software Defined Radio (SDR).

Optichron also announced today that it has closed an additional $12 million of equity financing that the company will use to ramp production of its digital pre-distortion (DPD) integrated circuits introduced in March of this year, and to respond to customer demand to accelerate the introduction of additional signal linearization solutions based on its proprietary signal processing technology. Investors included US Venture Partners, TL Ventures, Battery Ventures, and VentureTech Alliance. Total funding to date is $38 million.

“Optichron is very pleased to have the financial leadership of Tom Carlson as we ramp up to meet the demand for our first products and continue to expand the scope of our offerings,” said Perry Constantine, CEO of Optichron. “With Tom as part of our management team we are well prepared to leverage our proven technology for robust growth across the signal processing market.”

Previously Carlson had served as vice president, Finance, chief financial officer, secretary and acting vice president of Operations for Caspian Networks, Inc; vice president, Finance and chief financial officer for Sanera Systems, Inc.; vice president, Finance and Administration, and chief financial officer for Novera Optics, Inc.; vice president, Finance and Administration, and chief financial officer for Silicon Gaming, Inc.; and various executive financial management and accounting positions with several other firms. Carlson earned a MBA at the Xavier University and a BBA at the University of Cincinnati.

About Optichron

Optichron, Inc., a leader in nonlinear signal processing technology, designs and manufactures integrated circuits that enable significant improvements in system-level cost:performance for communications applications. Optichron