INDUSTRY

Industry Veteran Brings 21 Years of Telecommunications Industry Experience, Contributed to Record Revenues for Most Recent Quarter in Previous Role with the Company -- Picolight, Inc., a leading designer and manufacturer of optical transceivers and components, today announced that the company has named Steve Hane, previously the company's executive vice president of corporate development, president and chief executive officer and a member of the company's board of directors. Hane is chartered with managing Picolight's transition from a pioneering innovator to established market leader in fiber-optic transceivers and subcomponents, leveraging its proven technology and rapidly growing customer base. He replaces Stan Swirhun, an industry expert in optics and the transceiver design pioneer who led Picolight in the entrepreneurial days of product development and early market entry. Swirhun will remain as a member of Picolight's board of directors. Hane brings more than two decades of telecommunications sales, marketing and business development experience to Picolight, having managed all aspects of business from start-up stage through operations with $500 million in annual revenues, and also has extensive experience in both domestic and international partnership development, as well as venture capital fundraising and strategic sales and marketing programs. He previously served as vice president of business development and strategic marketing at Lightpointe, an early leader in optical wireless technology, and was vice president of North American sales for ADC Telecommunications' business broadband group. He joined Picolight in May 2004 and has been instrumental in developing and executing business, market and sales strategies that contributed to the company's record bookings and revenue performance in the third quarter of 2004. Hane is part of a seasoned executive team that includes Picolight founder and chief technical officer Jack Jewell, who is internationally recognized as a leader in the development and commercialization of vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) technology. "Steve Hane takes the helm at Picolight during an important time while the company is achieving growing customer traction for its transceiver and laser sub-component products in a strengthening market environment," said Bill Cadogan, a Picolight board member and senior managing director with Vesbridge Partners, LLC, the former networking group of St. Paul Venture Capital. "Picolight is uniquely positioned in the fiber-optic transceiver space with both existing and planned products, and during the past quarter has steadily improved shipment and booking performance while engaging with several key new customers. The company is poised for an excellent fourth quarter growth and strong long-term expansion as it heads into its next round of financing. We are pleased to have an executive of Steve's caliber take the reins at such a promising juncture for the company." "Steve has a solid track record in helping new ventures move to the next level of growth and success," said Rory O'Driscoll, managing director of BA Venture Partners and another Picolight board member. "He has already played a key role in significantly improving Picolight's revenue performance. As CEO, Steve will help Picolight capitalize on strategic opportunities in high-demand legacy products, in parallel array transceivers where it has a significant innovator advantage, and in emerging 10-Gbps Ethernet, 4-Gbps Fibre Channel, and 1310-nm VCSEL transceivers." Picolight has used its broad product and patent portfolio to establish a leadership position in enterprise and storage markets where 850nm VCSEL transceivers now dominate, and to extend this position into emerging markets, including 1310-nm VCSEL transceivers that are expected to redefine access networks. The company established extensive off-shore production capabilities during 2004 to support its growing revenue base, and has shipped more than $55 million in cumulative sales, to date. Background: Picolight is a rapidly growing private company that designs and manufactures high-speed opto-electronic sub-components and fiber optic transceivers. Picolight products power 1 to 10-Gbps enterprise and storage network systems, inside high performance networking and computing systems, and in rapidly growing access networks. The products power fiber optic links from one meter to well over twenty kilometers. Picolight is located in Boulder and employs a staff of 100. For more information, see www.picolight.com.