Tech firm LightSpeed Photonics raises $6.5 mn in round led by Pi Ventures

Startup's optical interconnects technology speeds up data transfer while lowering powering consumption

LightSpeed Photonics, which provides technology that speeds up data transfer while lowering powering consumption, has raised $6.5 million in a funding round led by pi Ventures.

 

Other participants in the pre-series A round included 500 Global, Indian Accelerator and 8X Ventures & Java Capital and angel investors in the Bay Area in California, United States. LightSpeed now has a total funding of around $8.5 million, including grants.

 

LightSpeed, which was founded in 2021 by Rohin Y and Ramana Pamidighantam, “aims to redefine data movement in AI-driven systems through compact, energy-efficient and optical interconnect”, it said in a statement.

 

The company’s optical interconnects technology of short wavelength laser data transfer delivers up to four-fold faster speeds, two-fold lower power consumption, and a 20-fold smaller carbon footprint. The technology is meant for AI (artificial intelligence) and high-performance computing, telecommunications (including 5G), aerospace, satellite, advanced electronics manufacturing and other sectors.

 

The global market for optical interconnects — “the future of data centres” — is projected to hit $35.97 billion by 2030, driven by demand for AI-driven workloads. LightSpeed’s patented Near-Packaged Optical technology offers data centres transfer solutions that are “seamless to integrate with existing architectures”.

 

"Our mission is to break through the data bottlenecks that limit the scale of AI and advanced computing,” said Rohin Y, founder and chief executive officer of LightSpeed Photonics. “AI workloads are driving exponential data growth, and existing interconnect solutions simply cannot keep up. Our technology bridges that gap by enabling faster, denser, and more energy-efficient data links without requiring costly system redesigns. This funding allows us to accelerate time to market and scale up our collaborations with partners worldwide.”

 

Manish Singhal, founding partner at pi Ventures, said: “LightSpeed's high speed optical interconnect product family is engineered to address a major hurdle of data movement in large-scale AI and cloud computing, by delivering significantly faster data transfer and at the same time drastically reducing energy consumption. We’re excited to back a deep tech team that’s solving a global-scale infrastructure challenge from India.”

 

Pamidighantam, cofounder and chief technology officer of LightSpeed Photonics, said: “Our solution offers power efficiency, compact footprint, high data rate and low manufacturing and operation cost thereby improving the overall lifetime and reliability.”

 

LightSpeed, which has over 10 granted patents and has filed for 20 more, said its work will advance the semiconductor ecosystem in the country through indigenous advanced Photonics IP.