SIP Global Partners invests in Lightmatter
SIP Global Partners, a US-Japan VC firm investing in early-stage decarbonisation technology, has announced its investment in the photonic computing company Lightmatter. This represents a follow-on investment as part of the company's latest funding round, following its lead investment in the previous round.
Lightmatter says it develops and deploys the industry's fastest and most efficient photonic processors, interconnects and software. According to the company, its foundational technology increases performance and reduces power consumption, advancing the next generation of compute. Lightmatter has raised more than $420 million to-date and is valued at over $1.2 billion.
The company also says its full stack of hardware and software solutions fundamentally disrupts existing AI and high-performance computing (HPC) paradigms while reducing energy consumption. Lightmatter believes it is therefore uniquely positioned to provide the silicon photonics innovation necessary for generative AI, advanced robotics and telecommunications.
“By increasing speed, lowering cost, and reducing environmental impact, our technologies can continue to push the limits of what's possible, fuelling greater AI adoption and innovation,” stated Lightmatter cofounder and CEO, Nick Harris. “We are thankful for the support of our investors, each of whom share our vision of Lightmatter playing an integral role in the future of computing.”
Jeffrey Smith, general partner of SIP Global Partners, added: “AI represents enormous potential value on a global scale – across all sectors and geographies. We strongly believe that Lightmatter's technology and solutions are critical to reaching that potential.”
The additional financing is intended to accelerate Lightmatter's path to deliver and scale high performance compute to cloud providers, semiconductor companies and enterprises. Funds will be used to accelerate time to market, scale the company's team and open the Toronto office.
