California-based semiconductor startup Ayar Labs raises $155 million in new funding at a valuation of $1 billion, bringing total funding to $370 million. Ayar Labs will use the funds to accelerate the development of its optical I/O technology.
Led by Advent Global Opportunities and Light Speed Capital, the funding round saw significant backing from other investors including AMD Ventures, Intel Capital and NVIDIA. 3M Ventures and Autopilot also joined the existing investors including Applied Ventures LLC, Lockheed Martin Ventures, and GlobalFoundries.
Ayar Labs CEO and co-founder Mark Wade said, “The leading GPU providers – AMD and NVIDIA – and semiconductor foundries – GlobalFoundries, Intel Foundry, and TSMC – combined with the backing of Advent, Light Street, and our other investors underscores the potential of our optical I/O technology to redefine the future of AI infrastructure.
We are incredibly fortunate to have the backing of Light Street’s deep expertise in technology-specific investments as well as Advent’s robust private and growth equity background in this funding round.”
Ayar Labs’ optical I/O solution is built on open standards, is commercially ready, and aligns with the roadmaps of major AI infrastructure providers. Today, it focuses on scaling its technology for high-volume manufacturing.
Jordan Katz, partner at Advent Global Opportunities, who will be joining Ayar Labs’ Board of Directors, said, “We believe optical I/O is on the cusp of revolutionising the future of AI infrastructure, and we recognise the significant growth potential of in-package optical interconnects. Our deep research into the interconnect market revealed that Ayar Labs is led by a world-class team, has industry-leading technology, and exciting engagements with Tier 1 customers. We believe that supporting Ayar Labs and its groundbreaking technology will offer transformative benefits to AI systems.”
