OpenLight has secured US$34 million in an oversubscribed Series A round to accelerate the development of integrated photonics for AI-scale data centres. The funding was co-led by Xora Innovation and Capricorn Investment Group, with participation from Mayfield, Juniper Networks (now part of HPE), Lam Capital, New Legacy Ventures and K2 Access.
This round marks OpenLight’s transition from being a subsidiary of Synopsys to a standalone, venture-backed company. The firm aims to address the rising demand for faster, more efficient data movement in AI data centre networks, as the industry shifts from electrical to optical interconnects. Beyond AI workloads, the company’s technology also targets sectors such as telecom, automotive, industrial sensing, healthcare, IoT, and quantum computing.
Technology based on heterogeneous integration
OpenLight’s Process Design Kit (PDK) is built on the heterogeneous integration of indium phosphide with silicon photonics. The PDK provides access to a library of passive and active components, including lasers, modulators, amplifiers and detectors. Validated by Tower Semiconductor, one of the leading photonics foundries, the platform ensures designs are ready for production from the outset.
With more than 360 patents, OpenLight’s PDK is already being used by over 20 companies to design and manufacture custom Photonic Application-Specific Integrated Circuits (PASICs). This approach allows developers to create advanced chips using pre-validated building blocks, reducing complexity and speeding up time-to-market.
Plans for expansion and new products
The new investment will be used to expand the company’s component library, including its 400Gb/s modulator and on-chip laser technology. OpenLight also plans to scale its reference photonic integrated circuits at 1.6Tb/s and 3.2Tb/s, providing greater flexibility for customers.
The company will also grow its team to support clients moving into volume production within the next year. According to CEO Dr Adam Carter, the funding will allow OpenLight to strengthen research and development, expand operations, and bring products to market more quickly. “We believe heterogeneous integrated silicon photonics will transform the way data is processed and transmitted, and we’re excited to be at the forefront of this revolution,” he said.
Industry support and outlook
Investors have emphasised the importance of OpenLight’s technology in the growth of the photonics sector. Phil Inagaki, Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer at Xora, said the company was well-positioned to scale manufacturing with foundry partners at a time when achieving scale is one of the industry’s biggest challenges.
Dipender Saluja, Managing Partner of Capricorn’s Technology Impact Fund, highlighted the importance of optical connectivity in AI data centres, pointing out that OpenLight’s integration approach offers performance, reliability and cost advantages. He added that the company’s open PDK model, strong partnerships, and experienced team give it an advantage in meeting the scale of demand expected from next-generation AI infrastructure.
As data centres expand to handle increasing AI workloads, integrated photonics is expected to play a central role in enabling faster and more energy-efficient data transfer. With strong backing and a growing customer base, OpenLight is positioning itself as a key player in this transformation.
