GalayOr gets $8 million in venture funds

CNY Business Journal (1996+), May 11, 2001 by Dickinson, Casey J

ITHACA - GalayOr Networks Inc., an Israeli tech startup with an Ithaca research branch, has landed $8 million in venture capital for its micro-optical technology. The financing is the largest investment in an Israeli tech company following the tightening of capital markets that began last year.

Founded in August 2000 by three university researchers, GalayOr's proprietary technology allows the creation of a photonic network at the microchip level. Its products can be employed in a number of photonic applications, such as fiberoptic communications. The company's name means "light waves" in Hebrew.

The telecommunications industry will have the greatest need for GalayOr's products, says Dr. Uri Geiger, the company's cofounder and CEO. GalayOr has developed methods for the simple manufacture of photonic products that were formerly complicated to produce.

"We're doing it in a very different way," says Geiger. "Our products allow more bandwidth at a much lower cost."

The simplicity of its products and their adaptability to standard silicon mass-production methods are the main attractions for investors, according to Adi Gan, general partner with Evergreen Capital, one of the companies investing in GalayOr.

Two other Israeli firms, STI Ventures and Neurone Ventures, are also providing funding along with Evergreen. Neurone was part of an initial $1.5-million investment in GalayOr soon after the company began operations in January.

Cornell University's laboratories serve as the Ithaca research facility for GalayOr, under an agreement with the school, says Geiger. The university has a chip-manufacturing plant the company's researchers use in developing its products.

The intersection of research at Cornell and Tel Aviv Universities brought the GalayOr founders together. Cofounder and GalayOr's chief technology officer Noel Elman, a micro-electrical mechanical systems researcher at Cornell University, is one of the company's Ithaca

connections. Another partner, Dr. Dan Haronian, served in Cornell's Department of Electrical Engineering from 1993 to 1996. Haronian holds 11 patents on his inventions. Elman, Haronian, and Geiger all worked at Tel Aviv University before starting their company.

Educated as an attorney and financier, Geiger teaches about startups and venture capital at Tel Aviv University's schools of Law and Business. Geiger obtained his doctorate in global securities from Columbia University. He balances the company's scientific foundation with corporate experience gained as a venture capitalist.

"I'm not a doctor of optics," says Geiger, "I'm on the business side."

GalayOr's corporate headquarters are located near BenGurion Airport in Lod, Israel.