OpenLight Raises $50 Million Series A-1 to Advance Silicon Photonics for AI Infrastructure
OpenLight has secured $50 million in Series A-1 funding to accelerate the global deployment of its silicon photonics technology, strengthening its position in one of the fastest-growing segments of AI infrastructure. The financing brings the Santa Clara, California-based company’s total funding to $84 million and will support the expansion of its product portfolio, worldwide customer support, and commercialization of next-generation photonic integrated circuits for artificial intelligence, telecommunications, sensing, medical devices, and quantum computing.
The oversubscribed Series A-1 round was led by Matter Venture Partners, with participation from new investors Acclimate Ventures and Catapult Ventures. Existing investors Xora Innovation, Capricorn Investment Group, Mayfield, and New Legacy also participated in the financing, underscoring continued confidence in OpenLight’s technology and commercial strategy.
OpenLight develops custom Photonic Application-Specific Integrated Circuits (PASICs) using its patented heterogeneous silicon photonics process. The company’s platform combines indium phosphide (InP) and silicon photonics on a single chip, enabling the integration of lasers, optical amplifiers, modulators, detectors, and passive optical components. This approach allows customers to build highly integrated photonic chips capable of supporting the rapidly increasing bandwidth and power efficiency requirements of AI data centers and advanced networking applications.
Founded following its spinout from Synopsys, OpenLight has built a foundry-validated process design kit (PDK) that enables semiconductor companies to design and manufacture production-ready photonic integrated circuits using established fabrication processes. According to the company, more than 25 organizations currently use its PDK to develop PASICs for applications ranging from hyperscale AI infrastructure and telecommunications to automotive sensing, industrial systems, healthcare, and quantum technologies. The company also holds more than 410 patents covering heterogeneous integration technology and photonic device manufacturing.
The latest investment follows OpenLight’s $34 million Series A financing announced in 2025, which was co-led by Xora Innovation and Capricorn Investment Group. That round also included participation from Mayfield, Juniper Networks, Lam Capital, New Legacy, and K2 Access. The Series A marked OpenLight’s transition from a Synopsys subsidiary into an independent, venture-backed company focused on scaling its commercial operations.
The newly raised capital will be used to expand OpenLight’s library of active and passive photonics components while accelerating development of advanced technologies including its 400G modulator platform and heterogeneously integrated on-chip laser and optical amplifier technologies. The company also plans to scale standards-based reference photonic integrated circuits operating at 1.6 terabits per second and 3.2 terabits per second, supporting the next generation of AI networking and high-performance computing infrastructure.
Demand for silicon photonics has grown rapidly as artificial intelligence workloads place unprecedented pressure on traditional electrical interconnects inside data centers. Optical communication technologies offer significantly higher bandwidth, lower latency, and improved energy efficiency, making them increasingly important as hyperscale cloud providers expand AI infrastructure. OpenLight believes heterogeneous integration enables customers to accelerate development while avoiding the complexity of designing optical components from scratch.
The company’s technology is manufactured through a foundry-based model that allows customers to move from design to production using validated semiconductor manufacturing processes. This approach reduces development risk while enabling large-scale deployment of photonic chips across multiple industries. In addition to AI networking, OpenLight sees growing opportunities in coherent optical communications, medical diagnostics, LiDAR, industrial sensing, and quantum information systems.
Investor support from Matter Venture Partners and participation from both new and existing shareholders reflects increasing confidence in silicon photonics as a foundational technology for next-generation computing infrastructure. As AI clusters continue expanding, demand for optical interconnect solutions capable of transmitting enormous volumes of data with greater efficiency is expected to increase substantially. OpenLight’s heterogeneous integration platform is designed to address these requirements while providing customers with a flexible design environment supported by production-ready manufacturing capabilities.
With total funding now reaching $84 million, OpenLight plans to expand global sales, technical support, engineering, and research while continuing to enhance its photonics platform. Backed by Matter Venture Partners, Acclimate Ventures, Catapult Ventures, Xora Innovation, Capricorn Investment Group, Mayfield, and New Legacy, the company aims to help accelerate the adoption of high-performance photonic integrated circuits as AI infrastructure, cloud computing, and advanced communications systems continue evolving at unprecedented scale.
