Bridgelux Names New CEO and Raises Additional $50 Million Series D Financing
Source/Type:  LIGHTimes Online - News - Staff reports

Author: LIGHTimes News Staff

January 19, 2010... Bridgelux, a developer and producer of LEDs and LED light engines for the lighting industry based in Sunnyvale, California USA, reports that William D. Watkins was named CEO, replacing Mark Swoboda. Mark Swoboda served as company president since June 2007, and he will remain the company president leading product development, R&D initiatives and sales and marketing efforts.

The company also announced that it has successfully raised an additional $50 million Series D financing, led by VantagePoint Venture Partners. DCM and all other existing investors also participated. The round, which is oversubscribed, also included new investors. The company says it intends to use the capital to aggressively develop its manufacturing technologies and expand its global manufacturing infrastructure to meet increasing market demand while continuing to drive its technology research and development activities.

Previously Watkins served as CEO at Seagate Technology, the largest hard disc drive and storage solutions company. During his 13 years at Seagate, Watkins, reportedly led growth strategies and improvements across all areas of the business, increasing revenue from $6.5 billion to over $13 billion in his five years as CEO. Prior to his position as CEO, Watkins served as Seagate's president and chief operating officer between 2000 and 2004, where he was responsible for the company's hard disc drive operations and transformed its manufacturing processes to yield significant increases in capacity and efficiency.

"Bridgelux experienced substantial growth over the past two years and has achieved scale and a perfect market position given the opportunity we have in the near term," said Bill Watkins. "We intend to seize this opportunity and dramatically grow the company. I look forward to working with the team to build upon the strong foundation they have established. In the coming weeks we will be announcing several initiatives that will further underpin our growth strategy as we pursue this huge market opportunity." Bridgelux News Release

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