Photon Bridge gets €10 million to make lasers for AI clusters

Photon Bridge, a Dutch photonics company (it works with light), received €10 million. The Amadeus APEX Technology Fund and 360 Capital are investors in the round. AI clusters must have light links between chips. The laser supply was made for telecom and subsea networks, where volumes are lower. Omdia tells that more than 20 million AI accelerators will go to customers each year by 2028.

How it works

Photon Bridge uses light from many lasers with lower power, not from some strong lasers. Lower power makes each laser less sensitive to defects in production, which increases yield (the part of good output). The platform gives a maximum of 40 mW of optical power for each wavelength for each fibre. It can operate in some indium phosphide foundries (chip factories).

The proof

The source gives no test results, yield numbers or customer names. It gives only the €10 million and the plan for samples and volume.

What is not known

It is not known if the plan works at volume. Investors tell that lasers are the next bottleneck, but that is their view.

Insight: The laser maker must get customer approval before the demand arrives

Photon Bridge has a plan for first samples in 2027 and volume from 2028. Omdia tells that more than 20 million accelerators go to customers each year by 2028. Volume comes in 2028, the year of the Omdia number. This reads as a race to get customer approval first. Look for the first customer approval of the 2027 samples.