About Capella Photonics
Capella Photonics is a Technology company based in San Jose (United States) founded in 2000, and was acquired by Alcatel-Lucent in January 2013. Capella Photonics has raised $101.58 million across 11 funding rounds from investors including Formative, Singtel and Alcatel-Lucent. Its chief executive, as recorded, is Larry Schwerin. Its focus areas include Semiconductors, Photonics, Optoelectronics and Optical Network. Its competitors include Polatis, Ocean Optics and Atmosphere Networks; 2 of its 3 listed competitors have raised funding.
Company details
Developer of switching elements for active optical networks. It offers wavelength selective switch technology based intelligent subsystems for industrial use. It is used in reconfigurable optical add and drop multiplexers.
- Headquarters San Jose, United States
- Stage Acquired
- SectorsTechnology
- Website capellainc.com
- Social X Facebook
- Acquired by Alcatel-Lucent (Jan 2013)
- Total Equity Funding$101.58M (USD)
in 11 rounds
- Latest Funding Round$3M (USD), Series F
Feb 2018
- InvestorsFormative
& 11 more
- Acquired byAlcatel-Lucent
(Jan 2013)
Funding Insights of Capella Photonics
Capella Photonics has successfully raised a total of $101.58M across 11 strategic funding rounds. The most recent funding activity was a Series F round of $3 million completed in February 2018. This substantial capital infusion reflects strong investor confidence in the company's business model, growth potential, and market opportunities. The funding enables strategic expansion, product development, market penetration, and operational scaling to drive long-term value creation and competitive advantage.
- Total Funding $101.58M
- Total Rounds 11
- Last Round Series F β $3M
- First Round $7M
(Apr 2003)
- Investors Count 11
Latest 10 of 11 funding rounds of Capella Photonics with amounts and investors; the two latest post-money valuations are shown, the rest are part of the premium plan.
| Date | Amount | Transaction Name | Valuation | Lead Investors | Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 2018 | $3M | Series F | β | β | β |
| May 2011 | $4M | Series F | β | β | β |
| Apr 2011 | $21.61M | Series F | β | Black Diamond Ventures, Singtel | |
| May 2010 | $6.35M | Series F | β | β | β |
| Feb 2010 | $5M | Series E | β | β | β |
| Nov 2009 | $11.31M | Series E | β | β | β |
| Feb 2009 | $7.31M | Series E | β | β | β |
| Mar 2007 | $20M | Series E | β | Levensohn Venture Partners, Rustic Canyon Partners | β |
| Sep 2005 | $10M | Series D | β | β | |
| Oct 2004 | $6M | Series C | β | β |
12 investors in total: 12 institutional.
Investors in Capella Photonics
Capella Photonics has secured backing from 12 investors, including venture fund and institutional investors. Prominent investors backing the company include Formative, Singtel and Alcatel-Lucent.
| Investor | Description | Founded Year | Domain | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Early-stage tech startups are funded by Black Diamond Ventures. | bdventures.com | Los Gatos, United States | ||
Early-stage startups are funded by Lucas Venture Group. | lucasvg.com | Palo Alto, United States | ||
| rusticcanyon.com | ||||
Consulting services on board governance are offered by Pascal Levensohn. | levp.com | Puch - Salzburg, Austria | ||
VC firm investing mostly in the US | baypartners.com | Menlo Park, United States | ||
| summerhillvp.com | ||||
| bcecapital.com | ||||
Structured debt is provided to life sciences and technology firms. | 2004 | horizontechfinance.com | Farmington, United States | |
Integrated telecom and IPTV services are provided in Singapore. | 1879 | singtel.com | Singapore, Singapore | |
Online platform offering real-time instruction tools for educators | 2013 | formative.com | Santa Monica, United States |
Investor details for Capella Photonics
The complete investor list, round-by-round participation and investor portfolios require an active premium plan.
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People of Capella Photonics
1 people are tracked at Capella Photonics (1 in leadership).
| Name | Role | Group |
|---|---|---|
Larry Schwerin | President and CEO | Leadership |
Complete people profiles for Capella Photonics
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Timeline of Capella Photonics
4 dated milestones of Capella Photonics across 18 years, from founding to its latest funding, stage changes and deals.
- Founded Capella Photonics is founded.
- Funding First funding round of $7.0M.
- Exit Acquired by Alcatel-Lucent.
- Funding Latest funding round, Series F, of $3.0M.
Competitors of Capella Photonics
Capella Photonics has 3 listed competitors in our database, 2 of them funded. They include Polatis, Ocean Optics and Atmosphere Networks.
| Company Name | Domain | Founded | HQ Location | Total funding | Employees | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| polatis.com | 2000 | Bedford, United States | $73.67M | Optical circuit switches with low losses are developed by Polatis. | ||
| oceanoptics.com | 1992 | Orlando, United States | Spectrometers and optical sensors are manufactured for scientific applications. | |||
| atmospherenetworks.com | 1997 | Campbell, United States | $31.3M | Fiber-optic SONET solutions are supplied to network operators and providers. |
Detailed competitors of Capella Photonics
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Top companies in Optical & Photonics Technologies
3 companies that operate in the same segment as Capella Photonics (Optical & Photonics Technologies) in United States, ranked by their profile score on The Company Check.
| Company | Description | Founded | Location | Total funding | Revenue | Employees |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cloud-based network management software is provided for infrastructure planning. | 1992 | Hanover, New Hampshire, United States | USD 4.77 B | 8,660 | ||
Fiber lasers are developed and supplied for industrial applications. | 2000 | Vancouver, Washington, United States | USD 203.65 M | USD 261.33 M | 800 | |
Photon-based universal quantum computers are developed for error correction. | 2015 | Palo Alto, California, United States | USD 2.77 B | USD 1.04 M | 672 |
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Frequently Asked Questions about Capella Photonics
Capella Photonics was founded in 2000 and raised its 1st funding round 3 years after it was founded.
Capella Photonics is headquartered in San Jose, United States. It is registered at San Jose, California, United States.
Larry Schwerin is the CEO of Capella Photonics, as recorded in our data.
Capella Photonics is a funded company, having raised a total of $101.58M across 11 funding rounds to date. The company's 1st funding round was a Series C of $6M, raised on Apr 2003.
Developer of switching elements for active optical networks. It offers wavelength selective switch technology based intelligent subsystems for industrial use. It is used in reconfigurable optical add and drop multiplexers.
Capella Photonics's top competitors include Ocean Optics, Polatis and Atmosphere Networks.
Capella Photonics has 12 investors. Key investors include Formative, Singtel, Alcatel-Lucent, Horizon Tech Finance, and Black Diamond Ventures.
Yes. Capella Photonics was acquired by Alcatel-Lucent in January 2013.

