Ayar Labs, a developer of optical interconnect technology for chip-to-wafer and machine-to-machine connections, has received $155 million in financing Series D financing Investments from venture capitalists AMD Ventures, Intel Capital and Nvidia. The participation of industry giants highlights the importance of optical interconnects for the next generation of AI and HPC machines. Ayar Labs plans to begin commercializing its technology by mid-2026.
Ayar Labs has reportedly successfully shrunk fiber optic communications technology to fit into chip packaging, which is critical for companies like AMD, Intel and Nvidia working to replace electrical interconnects with optical interconnects Burundi. The company is developing two products: TeraPHY Optical I/O chiplets and SuperNova multi-port, multi-wavelength light sources.
TeraPHY optical I/O dielets are so tiny that they can be seamlessly integrated into advanced die packages and enable up to 4 Tbps of bidirectional bandwidth with 5 ns latency per dielet, plus specially designed for packaging Time of Light (TOF) delay. The chiplet consumes approximately 10W, or 5 pJ per byte, which is a relatively low power consumption considering the speed of the TeraPHY.
The SuperNova remote light source is another key component of Ayar Labs’ optical I/O solutions. The device can provide up to 16 wavelengths of light to support 16 ports and can provide light for 256 data lanes or 16 Tbps in both directions. According to Ayar Labs, the device is designed to work seamlessly with TeraPHY, delivering 5-10x the bandwidth, 10x the latency, and 4-8x the bandwidth compared to traditional interconnect technologies such as pluggable optics and electrical SerDes. times the power efficiency.
“The support of leading GPU suppliers—AMD and Nvidia—and semiconductor foundries—GlobalFoundries, Intel Foundry, and TSMC—plus Advent, Light Street, and our other investors underscores the potential of our optical I/O technology to redefine the future. Potential Mark Wade, CEO and co-founder of Ayar Labs, said: “We are extremely fortunate to have the support of Light Street’s deep expertise in technology-specific investments and Advent’s strong private equity and growth equity background in this funding round. . “
GlobalFoundries currently produces Ayar’s wafers, but the company is also working with Intel to integrate its photonics technology into Intel’s manufacturing process and is in discussions with TSMC. Customers are already testing Ayar’s wafers, and TeraPHY and SuperNova are expected to be ready for high-volume production by mid-2026.
Advent Global Opportunities and Light Street Capital led the Series D round, with AMD Ventures, Intel Capital and Nvidia also participating. Ayar’s new investors include 3M Ventures and Autopilot. Ayar Labs’ existing backers such as GlobalFoundries, Applied Ventures LLC, Lockheed Martin Ventures, and VentureTech Alliance also participated in the Series D round, bringing the company’s total funding to $370 million and its valuation to over $1 billion.