NanoOpto

About NanoOpto

NanoOpto Corporation, founded in 2000, specialized in designing and manufacturing modular nano-optic components for optical systems and networks. The company's technology was based on two decades of research by its founder, Dr. Stephen Y. Chou, a professor at Princeton University. Howard Lee, a co-founder of Sun Microsystems, also co-founded NanoOpto and served as its acting COO. The executive team included President and CEO Barry Weinbaum, a 21-year veteran from Lucent Technologies/AT&T. Another key executive was Hubert Kostal, who joined as Vice President of Marketing and Sales in 2001.

The company's core business involved applying proprietary nano-optics and nano-manufacturing technology, including a patented nano-imprint lithography process, to create components with features smaller than the wavelength of light. This subwavelength approach allowed for the creation of new classes of integrated components and more efficient versions of standard ones. The business model was to supply these subcomponents to larger system and subsystem manufacturers. NanoOpto's product lines included polarizers, beam splitters/combiners, optical isolators, waveplates, microlens arrays, and IR cut filters. These components were targeted at markets such as digital imaging, communications, optical data storage, security, and defense. The company operated a high-volume manufacturing facility in Somerset, New Jersey.

Throughout its operation, NanoOpto secured significant venture capital funding, raising a total of $54.1M over nine rounds, with the first round in 2001 bringing in $16 million. The company faced the challenge of the telecommunications market crash early in its history but managed to adapt and continue developing its technology. Despite its innovations and raising substantial capital from investors like Bessemer Venture Partners and New Enterprise Associates, NanoOpto did not achieve the broad market integration it had planned for. In July 2007, the company's assets were sold to API Nanotronics, and the company is now considered defunct.