Silicon Photonics firm Rockley Photonics has announced the appointment of Mahesh Karanth as chief financial officer. As Rockley Photonics’ CFO, Mahesh will lead the company’s worldwide finance, legal and IT teams.
Karanth will play a key role as Rockley Photonics expands its operations, increases its development intensity and prepares to deliver its product platform through a worldwide network of supply chain partners. Rockley’s platform innovations are focused on high-growth datacom optical communications markets, as well as emerging high-volume consumer applications.
“We are very pleased to have Mahesh join the Rockley Photonics team,” said Dr. Andrew Rickman, Rockley founder and CEO. “As Rockley develops it is critical that we establish a finance function that scales to support the vision we have for the company. Mahesh brings direct experience guiding recognized, world-class businesses through similar growth stages. I look forward to working with Mahesh as we continue to expand our business.”
Karanth commented: “I am very excited to be joining Rockley Photonics as we prepare for our next phase of growth. The company’s technology and team are world class. I anticipate bringing my previous experience to the fore to ensure that Rockley has the capital and business processes in place to address the needs of its key nascent markets.”
Karanth was most recently chief financial officer for Enlightened Inc., an enterprise developing advanced lighting control systems. Prior to this, he was CFO for Invensense, a pioneer in sensor technology, where he led the company’s expansion of finance, administration and operations leading up to its IPO in 2010. Previously, he held senior positions at Compaq and was a partner at Ernst & Young.
Karanth holds Bachelors and Masters degrees in Commerce & Finance, certifications as a Chartered Accountant and Chartered Corporate Secretary, and is a Certified Public Accountant.
Rockley Photonics recently announced a $42m joint venture with Hengtong Optic-Electric Co., Ltd, to manufacture high-performance optical transceiver modules based on its silicon photonics technology.
