The News

Oxxius receives 2.4 million euros from Sofinnova Partners in first round of financing

08/09/2004

The French company will use the funds to accelerate product development and to strengthen its industrial and sales efforts

Lannion, France, 8 Septembre 2004 – Oxxius S.A, an innovative French company specialized in the design and manufacturing of lasers, has announced a first round of financing of 2.4 million euros from Sofinnova Partners.

Oxxius develops and sells lasers based on a new-generation technological platform. The lasers are used in the biosciences (fluorescence, cytometry, genomics), in the analysis of materials, in information technology (printing, storage, display), and in the manufacturing of semiconductors. Oxxius’s products use a miniaturized architecture that makes low-cost volume production possible for the first time ever. The subsequent gains in terms of compactness and performance will make the lasers attractive for entirely new applications.

The company’s first product, Oxxius Blue, is a monolithic, continuous-wave 473nm blue laser. Based on a patent-protected technology, Oxxius Blue was introduced in the last quarter of 2003 and has already been sold to some of the leading players in the worlds of research and industry.
 
Headquartered in Lannion, France, a major European center for research and development in optics, Oxxius was created in 2002 by Thierry Georges, CEO, and Raymond Le Bras, CTO. Its founders bring dozens of years of experience in the design, industrialization and marketing of lasers.

Dr. Thierry Georges holds a PhD in optics and has more than 15 years of experience of laser-based systems. In 1999 he created Algety Telecom, a company specialized in fibre optic transmission equipment. Algety Telecom, which was financed by venture capitalists, was sold in July 2000 to Corvis Corp. (NASDAQ : CORV).

 « Oxxius has a great position on a high-potential market, and the company has at its disposal all the technological and human advantages that will enable it to become a market leader, » said Thierry Georges. « Thanks to the support we have received from a leading investor like Sofinnova Partners, we now have the necessary means to develop the company and take it to success. » Alain Rodermann, Partner at Sofinnova Partners, added: « Oxxius’s founding team combines exceptional scientific and technical qualities with a proven capacity to establish and develop a truly international industrial company. »

Following the financing round, Rémy Aubert joins Oxxius’s board of directors. A Silicon Valley-based former President of Quantel International and Continuum, Inc., he brings an extensive international experience of the market for lasers and their applications.  « Oxxius is the most exciting new company in the area of lasers that I have come across in years, » he said.

For further information, please contact:

Madeleine Resener
Media Relations
Telephone : +33 (0) 1 53 05 41 00
 +33 (0) 6 20 41 39 82
mresener@sofinnova.fr

Thierry Georges
Oxxius S.A.
Telephone : +33 (0) 2 96 48 70 28
tgeorges@oxxius.com