Key Takeaways
- • OpenLight raised $50 million in a Series A-1 round led by Matter Venture Partners, bringing total funding to $84 million following a $34 million Series A in August 2025.
- • The round was oversubscribed with participation from new investors Acclimate Ventures and Catapult Ventures, alongside existing backers Xora Innovation, Capricorn Investment Group, Mayfield, and New Legacy.
- • OpenLight's heterogeneous silicon photonics platform integrates active and passive components into single-chip PASICs, addressing demand across AI infrastructure, datacom, telecom, automotive sensing, medical, and quantum computing markets.
- • The company's process design kit (PDK), validated at Tower Semiconductor, enables customers to develop production-ready custom photonics chips, reducing design complexity and accelerating time to market.
- • Matter Venture Partners' founding managing partner Wen Hsieh cited optical technology as "critical to the future scaling of data centers and AI infrastructure," positioning OpenLight's platform as essential for global optical connectivity expansion.
Summary
OpenLight, a Santa Clara-based photonic chip designer, has closed a $50 million Series A-1 funding round, building on strong commercial traction in AI and specialized computing applications. The round, which was oversubscribed, brings the company's total capitalization to $84 million since its launch as an independent entity in 2022. Matter Venture Partners led the round, with new investors Acclimate Ventures and Catapult Ventures joining existing backers Xora Innovation, Capricorn Investment Group, Mayfield, and New Legacy.
OpenLight specializes in custom Photonic Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (PASIC) design using a proprietary heterogeneous silicon photonics process that integrates indium phosphide and silicon technologies. The company's core innovation is a process design kit that combines all active and passive components—including integrated lasers, modulators, amplifiers, and detectors—into a single chip. This architectural approach simplifies advanced photonics chip design while reducing time to market, a significant advantage as demand for high-bandwidth, energy-efficient optical solutions accelerates across multiple sectors.
The financing reflects accelerating adoption across AI infrastructure, automotive and industrial sensing, medical applications, and quantum computing. According to Matter Venture Partners' founding managing partner Wen Hsieh, "Optical technology is critical to the future scaling of data centers and AI infrastructure," and OpenLight's heterogeneous integrated platform is positioned as foundational to global optical connectivity expansion. The company's PDK has been validated at foundry partner Tower Semiconductor, ensuring that customer designs achieve production readiness from initial development stages.
The $50 million raise follows OpenLight's Series A of $34 million in August 2025, demonstrating sustained investor confidence in the company's market positioning and technology differentiation within the competitive photonics sector.
OpenLight specializes in custom Photonic Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (PASIC) design using a proprietary heterogeneous silicon photonics process that integrates indium phosphide and silicon technologies. The company's core innovation is a process design kit that combines all active and passive components—including integrated lasers, modulators, amplifiers, and detectors—into a single chip. This architectural approach simplifies advanced photonics chip design while reducing time to market, a significant advantage as demand for high-bandwidth, energy-efficient optical solutions accelerates across multiple sectors.
The financing reflects accelerating adoption across AI infrastructure, automotive and industrial sensing, medical applications, and quantum computing. According to Matter Venture Partners' founding managing partner Wen Hsieh, "Optical technology is critical to the future scaling of data centers and AI infrastructure," and OpenLight's heterogeneous integrated platform is positioned as foundational to global optical connectivity expansion. The company's PDK has been validated at foundry partner Tower Semiconductor, ensuring that customer designs achieve production readiness from initial development stages.
The $50 million raise follows OpenLight's Series A of $34 million in August 2025, demonstrating sustained investor confidence in the company's market positioning and technology differentiation within the competitive photonics sector.
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