Ayar Labs adds $150M to its Series E at a $5B valuation
What's the deal? Ayar Labs, a Silicon Valley startup building optical connections between AI chips, has raised an additional $150 million. The capital extends the $500 million Series E round it announced in March and values the company at more than $5 billion. Backers include chip giants Nvidia, Advanced Micro DevicesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, and MediaTekDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →.
What's the endgame? Ayar builds co-packaged optics, technology that links AI chips with fiber optical cables. That approach avoids the overheating problems that arise when chips are connected with shorter copper cables.
Why now? Ayar and rivals are racing to bring optical technology to market as early as 2028. Chief executive officer Mark Wade said the funding helped open a chip design center in Bengaluru, India, and will help ready its products by the end of next year.
"If my customers' products are looking to ramp in the 2028-2029 time frame, we have to have all of our stuff qualified for volume production by the end of the 2027 time frame," Wade told Reuters.
Who else is in? Taiwanese cloud data center equipment maker Wiwynn Corp joined Ayar's backers, bringing its total raised this year to $650 million. Separately, Antero Peak Group at Artisan Partners led a $225 million secondary share purchase from early employees and investors; Sequoia Global Equities, ARK InvestDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, and Greycroft also took part.
Expanding footprint: The new Bengaluru design center marks Ayar's push into India, adding engineering capacity as it prepares products for volume production. The move ties directly to its 2027 qualification deadline.
The signal: The backing of Nvidia, AMDDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, and MediaTek shows chipmakers see optical interconnects as central to scaling AI infrastructure. "The AI infrastructure and optical interconnect industry is at a major inflection point," said Chris Smith, founding portfolio manager of the Antero Peak Group at Artisan PartnersDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →.
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Image credit: IBM Research
