Bridgelux Inc., of Livermore, California USA, reports that it has raised an additional $15 million in financing to accelerate research and development and scaling of the company's GaN-on-silicon LED chip technologies.

The company says commercialization for the technology is targeted for 2013. Existing financial and strategic investors quickly completed the oversubscribed funding round in response to company reports indicating additional capital could further accelerate Bridgelux’sGaN-on-Silicon program. Included in the round are VantagePoint Capital Partners, DCM, El Dorado Ventures, Novus Energy Partners, IFA, Chrysalix, Harris & Harris Group, Craton Equity Partners, Jebsen Asset Management, and Passport Capital among others.

“By continuing to drive down the cost of solid state solutions for general lighting, Bridgelux is helping to expand the market for these solutions, which we expect to grow from $3 billion in 2011 to more than $25 billion in 2015, generating strong growth for our company and our investors,” said Bill Watkins, Bridgelux’s CEO. “We are very pleased with the progress of our GaN-on-Silicon program. This additional capital will further accelerate our breakthrough development efforts in producing commercial grade LEDs on silicon while we continue to deliver the industry’s leading GaN-on-Sapphire array solutions.”