HyperLight announces $37 million funding round
The company says its thin film lithium niobate PICs offer unparalleled bandwidth and energy efficiency, and have the potential to meet future needs of AI and datacentre infrastructure
HyperLight Corporation, a provider of thin film lithium niobate (TFLN) PICs, has announced a $37 million Series B investment led by Summit Partners. The round includes participation from existing investors Xora Innovation, a deep tech venture fund backed by Temasek, and Foothill Ventures. Peter Chung, managing director and CEO of Summit Partners, will join HyperLight’s board of directors.
The continuing need for more bandwidth and greater power efficiency, accelerated by AI, is driving the industry’s transition to next-generation photonics technology. Current PICs have performance limitations due to their material properties and have become bottlenecks for high-performance optical communication.
According to HyperLight, its TFLN PICs deliver unmatched bandwidth and energy efficiency well-aligned with the current and future needs of AI/datacentre infrastructure, telecommunications optical networks, and high-performance computing. The company says that, since its founding in 2018, it has delivered industrial-scale TFLN PICs with a trusted supply chain. With this new financing, HyperLight intends to accelerate product development and meet rapidly growing customer demand.
“We believe TFLN will be the photonics platform of the future and identified HyperLight as an emerging category leader,” said Peter Chung of Summit Partners. “The HyperLight team has established an impressive track record of pioneering innovation and strong execution. In a short time, the company has evolved this critical technology into market-ready products with a production-ready supply chain. We look forward to supporting the HyperLight team and working alongside the company’s current investors as they pursue their vision to build a category-defining company in photonics.”
“We are thrilled to welcome Summit Partners as a new investor given their capabilities and deep experience in photonics, including investments in E-TEK Dynamics, Finisar, MACOM and Acacia Communications,” said Mian Zhang, president and CEO of HyperLight Corporation. “This financing round, supported by investors with demonstrated experience in the photonics industry, will enhance our ability to serve the current and future needs of our customers as a trusted innovation partner. We are ready to serve the industry with high-speed and energy-efficient PIC solutions designed to enable the network of the future.”