Boston-based photonics leader, Lightmatter, has secured $155M in Series C-2 funding led by GV (Google Ventures) and Viking Global Investors, raising its total funding to over $420M and valuing the company at over $1.2B. The funding will expedite growth to meet demand for high-performance computing from AI innovators. Lightmatter is developing photonic technologies that change how chips calculate and communicate, offering solutions that reduce power consumption and increase performance. The company plans to expand its team and office footprint, and accelerate its ability to serve customers. Lightmatter co-founder and CEO, Nick Harris, and GV General Partner, Erik Nordlander, both highlighted the company’s role in powering next-generation computing systems.
Lightmatter’s Series C-2 Funding Round
Boston-based photonics company, Lightmatter, has successfully raised $155 million in a Series C-2 funding round. The round was led by GV, formerly known as Google Ventures, and Viking Global Investors, with participation from other investors. This latest round of funding brings Lightmatter’s total capital raised to over $420 million, and the company’s valuation now stands at over $1.2 billion. The new funds will be used to accelerate the company’s growth to meet the increasing demand for high-performance computing (HPC) from AI innovators.
Lightmatter’s Photonic Technologies
Lightmatter is at the forefront of developing photonic technologies that revolutionize how chips calculate and communicate. These technologies can be utilized by major cloud providers, semiconductor companies, and enterprises for their computing needs. Lightmatter offers a full stack of photonics-enabled hardware and software solutions that simultaneously reduce power consumption and increase performance. This is particularly crucial for highly compute-intensive workloads such as AI, which have grown rapidly to impact every critical industry.
Lightmatter’s Role in AI Innovation
Nick Harris, co-founder and CEO of Lightmatter, believes that the company is poised to be a significant player in powering the next generation of computing systems that will further enable AI innovation. Through photonic technologies, Lightmatter aims to ensure the steady progress in computing performance continues, despite growing power consumption challenges and slowing progress with transistor scaling. Harris expressed gratitude for the support of their investors, who share Lightmatter’s vision of playing an integral role in the future of computing.
Lightmatter’s Impact on Generative AI
Erik Nordlander, General Partner at GV, highlighted the unprecedented demand for new compute and chip communication solutions in the rapidly evolving landscape of generative AI. He believes that Lightmatter is harnessing the power of silicon photonics to meet this challenge, unlocking performance bottlenecks, increasing bandwidth, and allowing AI models to increase in size and scale.
Lightmatter’s Expansion and New Hires
Since its last funding announcement in May 2023, Lightmatter has increased its headcount by more than 50% to meet client demand and product milestones. As a result of this expansion, the company plans to open a Toronto office in 2024. Lightmatter has also strengthened its leadership team by hiring Danner Stodolsky as Vice President of Data Center Architecture and Colin Sturt as General Counsel. Stodolsky, formerly of SambaNova and Google, will lead the design, simulation, and evaluation of large-scale systems based on Lightmatter’s technology. Sturt, with over 20 years of semiconductor industry experience, will lead the legal and compliance functions to support Lightmatter’s growth, IP portfolio, and expansion of contractual relationships.
Lightmatter is a photonics company that is reinventing how chips communicate and calculate. The company’s photonic interconnect and compute products simultaneously reduce the power consumption and increase the performance of silicon running the most advanced AI and HPC workloads. The company’s technologies are leading the revolution of computing, reducing impact on our planet, and enabling the next giant leaps in human progress.
“Lightmatter is positioned to be a key driver in powering the next generation of computing systems that will further enable AI innovation. Through photonic technologies, Lightmatter is ensuring the steady progress in computing performance continues, despite growing power consumption challenges and slowing progress with transistor scaling,” said Lightmatter co-founder and CEO, Nick Harris.
“In the rapidly evolving landscape of generative AI, the demand for new compute and chip communication solutions is unprecedented,” said Erik Nordlander, General Partner at GV. “Lightmatter is harnessing the power of silicon photonics to meet this challenge, unlocking performance bottlenecks, increasing bandwidth, and allowing AI models to increase in size and scale.”
Summary
Lightmatter, a photonics company, has raised $155M in a funding round, bringing its total funding to over $420M and valuing the company at $1.2B. The company is developing photonic technologies that change how chips calculate and communicate, aiming to reduce power consumption and increase performance, particularly for AI workloads.
- Boston-based photonics company, Lightmatter, has secured $155M in a Series C-2 funding round led by GV (Google Ventures) and Viking Global Investors. This brings the total raised by the company to over $420M, valuing it at over $1.2B.
- The funding will be used to accelerate growth and meet the increasing demand for high-performance computing from AI innovators. The company plans to expand its team and office footprint.
- Lightmatter is developing photonic technologies that change how chips calculate and communicate. These technologies can be used by cloud providers, semiconductor companies, and enterprises for their computing needs.
- The company’s solutions reduce power consumption and increase performance, which is crucial for compute-intensive workloads such as AI.
- Lightmatter co-founder and CEO, Nick Harris, believes the company’s technologies will continue to push the limits of what’s possible, fuelling greater AI adoption and innovation.
- Since its last funding announcement in May 2023, Lightmatter has grown its headcount by over 50% and plans to open a Toronto office in 2024.
- The company has also strengthened its leadership team, hiring Danner Stodolsky as Vice President of Data Center Architecture and Colin Sturt as General Counsel.