Holographic Data Storage Technology Will Help Create New Markets.
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 7, 2000
Aprilis, Inc., based in Cambridge, Mass., announced today that it recently received an initial, multi-million dollar round of venture capital financing, led by Zero Stage Capital, to develop its proprietary holographic data storage technology.
Aprilis is developing the world's first holographic-based data storage products using a proprietary technology based on over five years of research an development that was spun out from a Fortune 500 company. These products, targeted for high capacity storage markets, will provide extremely high storage capacity, fast data access times and exceptional data transfer rates.
High-growth data storage markets include enterprise storage for Fortune 500 companies, medical image archiving, satellite image archiving for weather, geophysical and intelligence data, data warehousing, mining, and analysis, and law enforcement records. This technology is also expected to enhance significantly video or data-on-demand, digital movie distribution to theatres, and direct delivery of movies to consumers over the Internet.
With new digital information being created at exponential rates, emerging telecommunications, general business, and Internet applications need new ways to store, manage, and access huge volumes of data.
"Holographic data storage has the performance characteristics and low storage costs that new sources and applications of digital information demand, enabling it to become the standard for archival information storage in the next decades. Magnetic, and even optical, storage systems are too slow and do not have enough capacity to meet the exploding demands," said Glenn Horner, vice president of business development at Aprilis.
Zero Stage Capital President Paul M. Kelley, said, "Aprilis is solving a major problem facing businesses today -- that of managing its data in an efficient and cost-effective manner. The Aprilis solution will not only assist corporations manage mission-critical data but also enable the growth of new markets. Current technologies are not configured to handle vast quantities of data at commercially viable price levels. But holographic technology is and Aprilis is extremely well-positioned to capture this growth."
Aprilis's introductory products will offer data storage capacities greater than 100 gigabytes (GBytes) per disk. Its products will transfer data as pages of 1 million bits at a time compared with conventional storage technologies that transfer data as sequences of singular bits.
The rapid growth of the Internet as a commercial business medium and advances in telecommunications has dramatically increased consumer and business demand for data-rich applications.
According to International Data Corporation, the volume of stored digital data is growing by more than 55 percent per year. By the end of 2000, the on-line volume of stored data is expected to exceed 600 million GBytes. Overall, the market for high capacity, high performance storage solutions exceeded $11.5 billion in 1999, and is growing faster than 20 percent per year.
About Holographic Technology
Significant recent technical advances in both hardware components and recording media have made it possible to construct practical, commercial holographic data storage systems. Holographic technology has at least three significant advantages over conventional optical storage technologies such as CD and DVD.
First, holographic data are stored throughout the entire volume of a recording material; not just on a surface, as is the case with conventional optical technologies. Total holographic capacity, therefore, is scalable to the thickness of the recording media, enabling much greater capacity than is achievable with CD and DVD.
Second, data are stored and read out in digital pages using a single optical head, providing extremely rapid and unparalleled data transfer rates.
Third, holography enables the use of "content addressable" memory technology; therefore, it can be adapted to search large databases for image features at rates substantially faster than currently possible.
About Aprilis, Inc.
Aprilis, Inc. (www.aprilisinc.com), based in Cambridge, Mass., commenced operations in 1999 to commercialize proprietary holographic data storage technology. Its early focus is on large emerging markets served by applications with high capacity and high performance demands. In May 2000, Aprilis achieved a critical milestone when its holographic recording material was used at Stanford University to demonstrate high data rate capability of 1 Gbit/sec.
About Zero Stage Capital
Founded in 1981, Zero Stage Capital (ZSC), a Cambridge, Mass.-based venture capital firm, with offices in Connecticut and Rhode Island, invests in emerging growth sectors such as information technology, communications, Internet, and medical technology. The original pioneer of start-up funding, Zero Stage Capital now manages six balanced and diversified funds that provide support for businesses at every stage of development. The firm has over $250 million in capital under management and has invested in more than 100 companies.
Zero Stage Capital portfolio companies that have had successful public offerings include: 24/7 Media Inc., About, Inc., Silknet Software Inc. (now Kana Communications), Be Inc., Evergreen Solar, Inc., IBIS Technology Corporation, Infonautics Inc., Matritech Inc., Mercury Computer Systems Inc., Open Market Inc., PerSeptive Biosystems, RoweCom Inc., SystemSoft Corporation, ImproveNet Inc., and @Comm Corporation.
Zero Stage Capital can be reached at 617-876-5355, or at www.zerostage.com. |
