Laser Startup Scores $10M

SUGAR LAND, Texas -- Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (AOI), amanufacturer of lasers for telecommunications systems, announced today thatit has completed a second round of private equity financing, raisingapproximately $10 million. The company designs and manufactureslong-wavelength (1550-nanometer) vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers(VCSELs).Technology Associates Management Co. (TAMC), a Plano, Texas based venturecapital group, led this funding round. Opnet Partners, based in New York,also participated. AOI raised $7.2 million in a first offering last year,bringing the company's total equity investment to date to $17 million."This is a tremendous vote of confidence in AOI and our VCSEL technology byour investors," said Thompson Lin, company President and CEO. "With thisinfusion of capital, we will be able to accelerate the development andmanufacture of new long-wavelength laser products."Applied Optoelectronics Inc. (AOI)