Arbor Photonics has raised $200,000 from the sale of equity, according to SEC documents.
The University of Michigan spinoff, based in Ann Arbor, MI, is seeking a total of $617,153 in follow-on financing, the documents say.
Investors include RPM Ventures, the university’s Frankel Commercialization Fund, and Michigan’s 21st Century Job Fund, according to RPM Ventures managing partner Tony Grover.
Arbor Photonics is developing high-powered fiber optic lasers that are used to manufacture everything from microelectronics to defense equipment.
“This was certainly novel technology developed at the university” with wide applications, Grover says. RPM Ventures, based in Ann Arbor, initially invested $115,000 in Arbor Phonetics in October 2007. So far, the company has raised about $5 million.
The startup’s technology can produce a laser with five to seven times more power than ordinary lasers, he says.
“Traditional technology has reached a ceiling in performance,” Grover says. “Then Arbor Photonics comes along and breaks through [with lasers] none of the existing companies can match.”
Arbor Photonics is initially targeting industrial materials processing, a market worth well over $1 billion, Grover says.
The startup has landed its first customers and is starting to generate revenue, he says. Arbor Photonics estimates it will generate about $30 million to $35 million in sales by 2015.
“We’ve very pleased with the progress that they have made so far,” Grover says. CEO Phillip Amaya has had to “navigate a very difficult downturn these past couple of years. They are on the verge now…an exciting stage when they’re transitioning from [research and development] to commercial products.”
