Kaiam

About Kaiam

Kaiam Corporation was a manufacturer of optoelectronic equipment for the computer networking industry, with a focus on high-speed data transfer for data centers. The company was founded in 2009 by Dr. Bardia Pezeshki, a serial entrepreneur with a PhD from Stanford University and a background in optoelectronics. Pezeshki previously founded Santur Corporation, which developed a tunable laser that carried a significant portion of the world's long-haul internet traffic. This experience in photonic integrated circuits was foundational to Kaiam's approach.

Kaiam's core business involved producing 40 Gb/s and 100 Gb/s optical transceivers. The company's key technology utilized MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems) and silicon micromachining for the high-precision alignment of single-mode fiber optics, replacing slower manual processes. This hybrid integration approach, combining materials like InP lasers and silica-waveguide optics, was designed to provide a cost-effective and high-performance solution for its primary clients: large-scale data center operators. The company initially produced transmitter and receiver optical subassemblies (TOSA/ROSAs) before moving into fully integrated transceivers.

Significant milestones included the acquisition of Gemfire Corp. in 2013, which provided Kaiam with a wafer fabrication plant in Livingston, Scotland. Supported by a grant from Scottish Enterprise, Kaiam relocated production from a contract manufacturer in China to this Scottish facility in 2014, expanding its workforce significantly. The company raised substantial funding over several rounds from investors including USVP, TriplePoint Capital, and Technology Partners. However, Kaiam faced considerable challenges, including difficulty securing enough large-volume orders to sustain its large manufacturing facility. This led to cash-flow problems, a patent infringement lawsuit from Finisar that resulted in a $10 million judgment, and ultimately, the company's collapse. In December 2018, the Livingston plant was placed into administration, leading to the layoff of over 300 employees. The company's UK and European assets, primarily the Planar Lightwave Circuits (PLC) division and the Livingston facility, were subsequently acquired by Broadex Technologies in March 2019.