VSK Ships Gear for Testing
By ANDREW SIMONS
Venture-backed VSK Photonics Inc. has started shipping test versions of its super-secret networking gear to customers.
The new products,three modules called photonic receivers that sit inside a large optical network,act as mediators to convert light signals into electrical ones interpreted by computers, telephones and other devices.
VSK officials say their newer, cheaper modules will be able to copy existing photonic receivers, called photodiode receivers, made by companies such as Texas Instruments Inc. Eventually, they say they hope to replace the photodiode devices.
The receivers use a material called indium phosphide as a conducting agent. The design is more efficient, according to the company.
With $26.3 million in venture funding so far, Lake Forest-based VSK is expected to get more financing soon to support its products. VSK’s investors include Intel Capital, the chipmaker’s venture arm, Menlo Park-based Morgenthaler Ventures and Santa Monica-based Rustic Canyon Ventures.
Times are tough for startups seeking funding, though. In the past year companies have found investors unwilling to give ante up full rounds at acceptable terms. That’s led several startups to seek smaller amounts until more investors decide to open their wallets.
VSK’s most recent $8.3 million round closed in February and was an extension of its $18 million original round that closed a year ago.
VSK also secured $6 million in credit with Marin County-based Lighthouse Capital Partners to build a 2,800-foot fabrication facility. The facility can put out 10 million components a year, the company said.
Some observers have wondered why VSK opted to build a fabrication facility at a time when chipmakers are seeking to outsource production to overseas foundries. Newport Beach chipmaker Conexant Systems Inc. recently split off its plant as a separate contract production business.
But having manufacturing allows VSK to avoid concerns about supply, which often are influenced by a company’s size, VSK officials contend.
“VSK’s commitment to an in-house wafer fabrication facility gives the company total ownership leading to lowest cost, enhanced quality control and eliminates outside fab supply risk,” said Kevin Patrick, VSK’s vice president of marketing, in a statement. “It also shortens design cycles, which enables a faster time to market response.”
The company has moved quickly to finish the facility.
“It is now fully operational and is currently producing wafer lots for both manufacturing and development,” said John Lungo, VSK director of operations, in a statement.
VSK is perhaps Orange County’s most secretive startup. The company rarely returns phone calls from the media,including for this story. Founder and Chief Executive Don Ackley worked at Motorola Inc.’s operation in Tempe, Ariz., and at Epitaxx Inc., which was acquired by JDS Uniphase Corp.
