MARCH 4–SAN DIEGO, Calif.– OMM, Inc., a supplier of MEMS-based optical switch array modules, announced today that it will cease operations as of Friday March 7, 2003.

The company plans to release all of its 85 employees as of that date and assign the assets to the benefit of the company’s creditors.

“The company shipped products to more than 60 telecommunications equipment manufacturers and achieved numerous customer design wins,” says Phil Chapman, OMM’s president. “However, with the severe downturn in the worldwide telecom industry, the market timing for volume deployment of our products has been significantly impacted.”

The company has been seeking additional private funding to continue its operations, but was unable to raise the total amount deemed necessary to wait out the current downturn in the global telecom market

OMM, originally known as Optical Micro-Machines, was started in San Diego in 1997 and was funded by a combination of venture capital and strategic customer investments.

The company’s venture investors included Sevin Rosen Funds, Atlas Venture, Bessemer Venture Partners, Rho Capital Partners, and Weston Presidio. Strategic investors included Nortel Networks, Siemens, Alcatel, Sycamore Networks, Solectron, Fairchild Semiconductor, and Corvis Corp.