CENTENNIAL, Colo.– NUBURU, the leader in high power blue laser technology, today announced that it has raised $20 million in Series B funding to accelerate development of its high brightness AI™ Series industrial product line and to expand its presence in the energy storage, e-mobility and 3D printing markets.
The round, which was co-led by Anzu Partners, an industrial technology investment firm, and by Thomas Wilson, chair, president and chief executive officer of The Allstate Corporation, brings NUBURU’s total funding to nearly $50 million. Wilson, along with Ron Nicol, former senior partner and managing director of the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), will join Anzu managing partners David Michael and David Seldin on the NUBURU board of directors.
NUBURU’s blue lasers provide unprecedented speed and quality control for metal processing operations, such as welding and additive manufacturing in a variety of growing industries like e-mobility and automotive, where materials such as copper, stainless steel and aluminum are increasingly critical. Previous technologies are inflexible, slow and produce poor-quality metal joints, but NUBURU’s industrial blue lasers leverage a fundamental physical advantage to produce defect-free welds up to four times faster than the traditional approaches — all with the flexibility inherent to laser processing.
The funding comes on the heels of the key executive appointments of Dr. Guy Gilliland and Chris Baldwin as CEO and CFO, respectively. Their experiences growing global technology companies, paired with this additional funding sets NUBURU up for additional product innovation and progression into new markets in the coming year.
“NUBURU lasers drive superior manufacturing speed and quality in fast-growing sectors such as consumer electronics, batteries and electric vehicles,” said Dr. Gilliland, CEO of NUBURU. “This new funding allows us to advance our Denver-based automated production facility and accelerate development of our ultra-high brightness product family.”
“The feedback we’ve received from our customers has been overwhelmingly positive and proven that our high-power and high brightness blue lasers are a compelling option for processing aluminum, brass, gold and other challenging metals,” said Dr. Mark Zediker, founder and chairman of the board at NUBURU. “We are now scaling operations to respond to this strong customer interest in migrating their processes to our blue laser technology.”
Thomas Wilson, who co-led the investment round and will join the NUBURU board of directors, is also chairman emeritus of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Ron Nicol currently serves as a senior advisor with BCG following a 30-year career where he led the firm’s global technology practice. He has advised many of the world’s largest electronics manufacturing companies. Mr. Nicol also has a degree in physics from the United States Naval Academy. Both Wilson and Nicol are active leaders in global industry, and their corporate development expertise and senior advisory roles will aid NUBURU as it expands its customer base.
“NUBURU’s differentiated blue laser technology solves key challenges in electronics manufacturing and is also positioned to address many other applications ranging from life sciences to the aerospace sector,” said Ron Nicol.
“As blue technology continues to mature, NUBURU has a head start with its application expertise and strong IP portfolio that position the company for continued success. I am delighted to co-lead the investment round supporting this company,” added Thomas Wilson.
