Emerald and Oregon Venture Fund invest in NLM Photonics
The company plans to use the funding to scale and commercialise its hybrid organic electro-optic photonic modulator technology, which it says can enable up to a 30 percent power consumption reduction in datacentre networks
NLM Photonics has announced investment by Emerald Technology Ventures and Oregon Venture Fund to help bring energy-efficient, high-performance electro-optic modulation technology to AI, datacentres, quantum computing, and more. The two firms join Tokyo Ohka Kogyo Co., Ltd., Pack Ventures, StoryHouse Ventures, and other existing NLM investors to support the company’s vision and focus.
According to NLM, its breakthrough hybrid organic electro-optic photonic modulators can enable up to a 30 percent reduction in datacentre network power consumption. The company says its cutting-edge solutions enable high-bandwidth, low-voltage, low-power data transfer between electronics and photonics.
“With the expansion of cloud computing and AI, communication within the datacentre is quickly becoming the bottleneck to continued growth in the sector,” says Frank Balas, director of Emerald Investment. “NLM tackles the issue by offering photonic technology that is not only faster and more energy efficient but can be manufactured in standard CMOS fabs. We are thrilled to be working with the team as they bring their modulators to the market.”
“NLM’s proven innovation and strong early market interest make them uniquely positioned to shape the future of datacentre communications and deliver transformative growth opportunities. We are excited to support the world-class team at NLM,” says Deepthi Madhava, partner at Oregon Venture Fund.
“NLM is excited to have new and returning investors that believe in our team and the technology we’re bringing to the communications industry,” stated Brad Booth, NLM’s CEO. “Their support will help NLM transition its technology into broad market availability.”
This investment is part of NLM’s next phase of development to scale and commercialise its technology. Given the market’s current high demand for datacentre enhancement, the company says it remains in discussions with further investors to expand the current investment round.
