Syntune

About Syntune

Syntune AB, founded in 2003, carved a niche in the telecommunications sector as a specialized developer of single-chip tunable lasers. The company's core business centered on providing these advanced optical components for applications in fiber-optic communications and sensor systems. Syntune's business model was fabless, meaning it outsourced the manufacturing of its laser chips, a strategy that mirrored the successful approach of the silicon semiconductor industry and aimed to offer cost-effective, high-quality production. This approach was designed to meet the growing demand for wavelength agility in next-generation optical networks.

The company's technology was based on a design known as "modulated grating Y-branch" (MG-Y), which was instrumental in enabling the outsourcing of chip manufacturing. This design provided several advantages, including low power consumption, small size, and rapid tuning capabilities. Syntune developed products like the S3500 butterfly package and the S3600 Integrated Tunable Laser Assembly (ITLA) to serve the C- and L-band telecom markets. Its primary clients were likely manufacturers of telecommunications equipment and systems requiring Dense Wavelength Division Multiplex (DWDM) transceivers.

Syntune's journey involved significant financial milestones and strategic partnerships. The company secured $6.2 million in a Series A funding round in December 2004, led by InnovationsKapital and Teknoinvest, with participation from Vision Capital. This was followed by a Series B round of $7.1 million in August 2007. A key strategic move was a co-operative agreement with CyOptics in 2007 to manufacture its tunable lasers, leveraging CyOptics' automated manufacturing platform to scale production. Patrik Evaldsson, who had a Ph.D. in fiber-optic components from AT&T Bell Labs and experience at Ericsson, was recruited as CEO of Syntune. The company was eventually acquired by Ignis ASA in April 2009, a deal intended to broaden Ignis' product range with active components. The sellers in this acquisition included the founding investors and individuals such as Chairman Björn Broberg and CTO Pierre-Jean Rigole.