PHOTON IP

What PHOTON IP does

PHOTON IP (legally PHOTON IP B.V., commercially rebranded to Photon Bridge) is an Eindhoven-based integrated photonics startup founded in 2020 that develops photonic integrated chip manufacturing technology. Its core innovation is a modular "de-integration" platform that separates active III-V material components from passive silicon waveguides—an architecture intended to improve manufacturing yield and reduce unit costs compared with traditional monolithic photonic integration. The company's product portfolio centers on Optical Engines that integrate silicon photonics with III-V materials, complemented by Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) laser sources, Co-Packaged Optics (CPOs), and high-density optical interconnects developed in partnership with PHIX. End applications target AI data center infrastructure and high-speed telecom optical links.

The company's go-to-market is enterprise field sales: it has delivered photonic integrated chip prototypes to two major telecom customers and expects product qualification within 12-18 months followed by commercial rollout within two years. Its revenue model is hardware sales of photonic chips and optical engines, though no pricing has been publicly disclosed and revenue recognition has not yet begun. The company is pre-commercial and supported by an ~€6.75M funding base from a January 2025 seed round (€4.75M led by Innovation Industries with BOM, Faber, and PhotonDelta) and a European Innovation Council grant, alongside accelerator support from Dutch national photonic growth program Photondelta. Headcount stands at approximately 10 employees with a stated target of doubling to ~20.

Name

PHOTON IP

Legal name

PHOTON IP B.V.

Website

https://photonip.tech

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

PHOTON IP (operating as Photon Bridge) is an Eindhoven-based integrated photonics startup developing a modular de-integration platform that combines III-V materials with silicon photonics to produce optical engines, DWDM lasers, and CPOs for AI data center and telecom customers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Photonic Integrated Circuits

NAICS

Other Communications Equipment Manufacturing (33429)

SIC

Semiconductors & Related Devices (3674), Communications Equipment, Nec (3669)

akta.pro primary industry

Optoelectronic / Photonics Foundries (Silicon Photonics/LED/Laser) (HDAHACAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Optoelectronics & Photonics (LED/Laser/Optical ICs) (HDAHAAAH), Optical Transceivers (SFP/SFP+/SFP28/QSFP/QSFP-DD/OSFP) (HDAFAEAE), Active Optical Cables (AOC) & Optical Interconnects (HDAFAEAG)

Keywords

• Silicon photonics chips
• Photonic integrated circuits
• Optical data interconnects
• DWDM laser sources
• Co-packaged optics

Headquarters

HQ city

Eindhoven

HQ country

Netherlands

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Photonic Chip Products: Sale of energy-efficient photonic chips and optical engines targeting AI data center applications

Go-to-market motion1 record

Core offering

PHOTON IP designs and manufactures energy-efficient photonic integrated chips and optical engines that integrate silicon photonics with III-V materials for high-speed, multi-wavelength optical links. The company uses a proprietary modular De-Integration manufacturing platform that separates active III-V material components from passive silicon waveguides, targeting improved manufacturing yield and lower costs for AI data center optics and telecom applications.

Product overview

PHOTON IP (now operating as Photon Bridge) is an integrated photonics company offering a portfolio of products centered on energy-efficient photonic chip technology. The core offering consists of Optical Engines that integrate silicon photonics with III-V materials, supported by a Modular De-Integration Platform for photonic integrated chip manufacturing. The company also produces DWDM Laser Sources, Co-Packaged Optics (CPOs), and High-Density Interconnects for AI data center applications, developed through its partnership with PHIX.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Optical Engines

Quantifiable outcome

• Improved manufacturing yield through modular de-integration approach
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• PHIXcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 15 April 2026Partnership to develop and produce DWDM laser sources for AI data centers, combining photonic integration with advanced packaging capabilities. The collaboration aims to drive production of Co-Packaged Optics (CPOs) and high-density interconnects for AI infrastructure applications.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Marvell Technology: Marvell (via Inphi) is a dominant supplier of high-speed optical DSPs and coherent optics for cloud and telecom — overlapping customer base with established AI data center optics roadmap.
• Intel (Silicon Photonics): Intel has a silicon photonics business producing optical transceivers and is moving into co-packaged optics for AI data centers — a dominant incumbent with deep R&D and existing hyperscaler relationships in the same target market.
• Tower Semiconductor: Tower Semiconductor is a specialty foundry offering silicon photonics process platforms (including via its Tower-Intel partnership) for data center and telecom optical components — broader foundry with photonic capabilities that could compete with or partner with PHOTON IP.
• Broadcom: Broadcom is a leading supplier of optical DSPs, transceivers, and is developing co-packaged optics for hyperscale AI data centers — overlapping target market with vastly larger scale and incumbency advantage.

Emerging players

• Celestial AI: Celestial AI is building photonic fabric interconnects for AI accelerator clusters using silicon photonics — comparable technology stack targeting AI data center optics, though focused on inter-chip interconnect rather than external laser sources.
• Lightmatter: Lightmatter develops photonic processors and interconnect solutions for AI/data center workloads using silicon photonics — same technology base and same AI data center end market, though focused on compute rather than optical transceivers.

Direct peers

• VLC Photonics: VLC Photonics is a Valencia-based photonic IC design house and foundry services provider offering III-V and silicon photonics design and MPW access — directly comparable business model serving photonic chip developers.
• POET Technologies: POET Technologies designs and sells photonic integrated circuits and optical engines for data center and telecom markets using a hybrid III-V/silicon integration approach — highly comparable technology and product offering to PHOTON IP.
• Effect Photonics: Effect Photonics develops DWDM-based optical transponders and integrated photonic chips for 5G/telecom and data center interconnect — directly comparable product portfolio and target customers to PHOTON IP's DWDM laser sources and optical engines.
• Ligentec: Ligentec is a European (Swiss) foundry specializing in silicon nitride photonic integrated circuits for communications, quantum, and sensing — same photonic IC manufacturing model, similar customer base, and direct competitor for photonic foundry business.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights3 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/photoniptech

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds3 records

Investors6 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 PHOTON IP