Name

NLM Photonics

Legal name

NLM Photonics

Website

https://nlmphotonics.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Silicon Photonic Components

NAICS

Semiconductor and Related Device Manufacturing (334413)

SIC

Semiconductors & Related Devices (3674)

akta.pro primary industry

Optoelectronics & Photonics (LED/Laser/Optical ICs) (HDAHAAAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

Optoelectronic / Photonics Foundries (Silicon Photonics/LED/Laser) (HDAHACAG), Optoelectronic Receivers & Transceivers (Photodetectors/Optical Modules) (HDAHALAM)

Keywords

• Organic electro-optic materials
• Silicon photonics
• Photonic integrated circuits
• Optical modulators
• Hybrid photonic materials

Headquarters

HQ city

Seattle

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Proprietary Electro-Optic Materials Sales: Sale of proprietary organic electro-optic materials (JRD1, HLD, Selerion family) to photonic device manufacturers. Materials sold for integration into customer photonic integrated circuits.
2. Patent Licensing: Exclusive patent licensing of electro-optic material technologies to cloud providers and semiconductor companies. Licenses cover materials synthesis, device integration, and manufacturing processes.
3. Process Development Kits (PDK) and Design Support: PDKs for photonic integrated circuit manufacturing incorporating organic electro-optic materials. Includes design rules, process specifications, and technical support services.
4. Government Contracts: Research and development contracts with government agencies. Includes $1.8M U.S. Air Force award for silicon-organic hybrid modulator development.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

NLM Photonics develops and sells proprietary organic electro-optic (OEO) materials from its Selerion™ family (including Selerion-HTX and Selerion-BHX) that are integrated into silicon photonic foundry processes to enable high-bandwidth, low-power silicon-organic hybrid (SOH) and plasmonic-organic hybrid (POH) photonic integrated circuits. The company commercializes 1.6T and 3.2T SOH PICs with up to 110+ GHz bandwidth for data center, AI infrastructure, telecom, and satellite communication applications, and provides Process Development Kits for major silicon photonic foundries.

Product overview

NLM Photonics is a materials platform company that has developed a portfolio of hybrid organic electro-optic (OEO) technologies. The core offering is the Selerion™ family of organic electro-optic materials (including Selerion™-HTX and Selerion-BHX), which serve as the foundational technology platform. Built on this materials platform, NLM commercializes silicon-organic hybrid (SOH) photonic integrated circuits including 1.6T and 3.2T PICs that deliver order-of-magnitude performance improvements at 200Gb/s and 400Gb/s per-lane data rates with up to 110+ GHz bandwidth. The company also enables plasmonic-organic hybrid devices through partner Polariton Technologies. NLM's technology addresses bandwidth and power efficiency challenges in data centers, AI infrastructure, quantum networking, and satellite communications by bridging silicon photonics' volume manufacturing capability with organic electro-optic performance advantages. Process Development Kits for major silicon photonic foundries (Tower Semiconductor, GlobalFoundries/AMF, AIM Photonics) enable commercial adoption.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Selerion™: Family of hybrid organic electro-optic materials including Selerion-HTX and Selerion-BHX with record-breaking EO performance for photonic integrated circuits
• Selerion-HTX
• Selerion-BHX

Products and services

• Selerion™ Family of Organic Electro-Optic Materials The Selerion™ family comprises hybrid organic electro-optic (OEO) materials including Selerion-HTX and Selerion-BHX. These patented, crosslinkable thermoset synthetic organic materials integrate into slot-waveguide EO modulators in photonic integrated circuits during final manufacturing stages, enabling higher bandwidth, lower power consumption, and smaller device footprints while remaining compatible with existing silicon photonic process flows. Materials are sold to silicon photonic foundries and photonic device manufacturers for integration into their PICs.
• 1.6T Silicon Organic Hybrid PIC An 8-channel silicon-organic hybrid photonic integrated circuit delivering 200Gb/s per lane bandwidth with lower drive voltage and higher extinction ratios. The 1.6T SOH PIC is 40 percent smaller than standard 1.6T silicon photonic PICs, built with NLM's patented Selerion-HTX OEO material, achieving order-of-magnitude better performance than traditional silicon photonics. Fabricated on Advanced Micro Foundry's 200mm GP O-band silicon photonics platform. Targeted at data center, AI, and telecom customers requiring high-bandwidth optical interconnects.
• 3.2T Silicon Organic Hybrid PIC A silicon-organic hybrid photonic integrated circuit delivering 110+ GHz performance capable of 400Gb/s per-lane data rates. Built with NLM's patented Selerion-HTX OEO material, achieving the same compact form factor as the 1.6T variant with up to 40 percent smaller footprint than typical solutions. Fabricated on Advanced Micro Foundry's 200mm GP O-band silicon photonics platform. Targeted at next-generation data center and AI infrastructure interconnects.
• Silicon-Organic Hybrid Modulators Silicon-organic hybrid (SOH) modulators developed using NLM's patented Selerion-HTX OEO material, validated on Tower Semiconductor's PH18M silicon photonics platform through multi-project wafer runs. The modulators offer a fab-friendly approach for silicon photonic foundries seeking higher bandwidth capabilities, with a clear roadmap to 400G per lane. Targeted at silicon photonic foundries and photonic device manufacturers for next-generation high-bandwidth systems.
• Process Development Kit (PDK) Process Development Kits for silicon photonic foundry platforms including Tower Semiconductor's PH18M platform and GlobalFoundries' AMF HP PDK 6.0. These PDKs enable high-volume manufacturing and commercial adoption of silicon organic hybrid technology by providing design rules and process specifications for integrating NLM's OEO materials into foundry processes. Targeted at silicon photonic foundries.

Quantifiable outcome

• 50% power savings in photonic integrated circuits
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

17 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Spark PhotonicscoreTechnology or IntegrationPartnership to advance organic hybrid solutions for silicon photonics applications. Collaboration on photonic integrated circuit design and optimization.
• Tower SemiconductorcoreTechnology or IntegrationSOH modulator validation through multi-project wafer runs. Tower Semiconductor fabricates silicon photonics wafers incorporating NLM's organic electro-optic materials.
• GlobalFoundriescoreTechnology or IntegrationPIC sampling partnership. GlobalFoundries provides silicon photonics fabrication capabilities for NLM's SOH technology.
• Advanced Micro Foundry (AMF)coreTechnology or IntegrationPIC fabrication partnership. AMF fabricates silicon photonic devices incorporating NLM's organic electro-optic materials.
• Polariton TechnologiescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-development partnership for plasmonic-organic hybrid devices. Combines NLM's organic electro-optic materials with Polariton's plasmonic expertise for ultra-compact modulators.
• SilOriXcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-development of silicon-organic hybrid modulators. Joint development program for high-performance SOH modulators.
• AIM PhotonicsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGovernment contract collaboration for silicon photonics development through the American Institute for Manufacturing Integrated Photonics (AIM Photonics).
• imeccoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEuropean partnership for PIC development. imec provides photonic integrated circuit fabrication capabilities for NLM's technology in Europe.
• VTT Technical Research CentercoreTechnology or IntegrationWafer production partnership for photonic integrated circuits. VTT provides fabrication capabilities for SOH devices.
• University of WashingtoncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-standing research collaboration and exclusive patent licensing through CoMotion technology transfer office. R&D and engineering labs located on UW campus.
• ETH-ZurichminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic research collaboration on organic electro-optic materials and photonic devices.
• KU LeuvenminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic research collaboration on photonic integrated circuit technology.
• Purdue UniversityminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic research collaboration on electro-optic materials and photonic devices.
• Virginia Commonwealth UniversityminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic research collaboration on organic electro-optic materials.
• Creative Destruction Lab (CDL)coreGTM or Marketing PartnerStartup acceleration program participation. NLM Photonics graduated from CDL 2024-2025 cohort, receiving mentorship and business development support.
• 5G Open Innovation LabcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerEcosystem partnership for 5G and optical networking applications. Collaboration on next-generation connectivity solutions.
• SEMI's Silicon Photonics Industry Alliance (SiPhIA)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerIndustry association membership in SEMI's silicon photonics industry alliance for ecosystem engagement and standardization.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves10 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Lightwave Logic: Lightwave Logic develops next-generation photonic devices based on proprietary electro-optic polymer materials for high-speed fiber-optic networks and data communications. Like NLM Photonics, it focuses on organic EO polymers as a modulator material and is the closest direct comparable in the organic EO materials space.
• Polariton Technologies: Polariton Technologies is a Swiss ETH Zurich spin-out developing plasmonic-organic hybrid modulators with ultra-high bandwidth (>500 GHz) and compact form factors. NLM and Polariton are co-development partners on plasmonic-organic devices, but Polariton is also a direct peer in the plasmonic modulator category with similar performance benchmarks.
• Ayar Labs: Ayar Labs develops in-package optical I/O solutions using silicon photonics to enable high-bandwidth, low-power chip-to-chip optical interconnects for AI accelerators and HPC. Comparable to NLM in targeting optical interconnect bottlenecks in AI/datacenter applications, though with a different modulator approach.
• Celestial AI: Celestial AI is building a Photonic Fabric platform that uses optical interconnect technology for AI accelerator memory and compute fabrics. Like NLM, it targets the bandwidth and power bottleneck between compute and memory in AI training/inference clusters using photonic interconnect.
• Ranovus: Ranovus delivers silicon photonics-based optical interconnect solutions for data center and AI infrastructure, with multi-wavelength laser and integrated photonic platform offerings. Comparable to NLM in targeting high-bandwidth datacom interconnect markets using silicon photonic technology.
• Effect Photonics: Effect Photonics develops highly integrated optical transceivers based on InP-based photonic integration for datacom and 5G networks. Comparable to NLM as a photonic integrated component provider targeting data center and telecom optical interconnect markets.

Emerging players

• Lightmatter: Lightmatter builds photonic processors and interconnect technologies for AI compute, using silicon photonics for both computation and data movement. Adjacent to NLM in photonic AI infrastructure, with broader ambitions spanning compute and interconnect.

Broad incumbents

• Lumentum: Lumentum is a major incumbent supplier of photonic components including lasers, modulators, and optical modules for telecom, datacom, and 3D sensing. Comparable to NLM as a broad-based optical components player with established customer relationships across the same end-markets NLM targets.
• Intel (Silicon Photonics): Intel's Silicon Photonics division produces integrated optical transceivers and silicon photonic components for data centers and network infrastructure. A broad incumbent with significant internal fab capabilities, addressing similar datacom and HPC interconnect markets as NLM.
• Cisco (Acacia Communications): Cisco's Acacia Communications division develops high-performance coherent optical interconnect products using silicon photonics for telecom and data center networks. Comparable to NLM as a silicon photonics-based optical interconnect provider, though at much larger scale and broader product portfolio.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/nlm-photonics

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds10 records

Investors12 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about NLM Photonics