VLC Photonics
VLC Photonics is a fabless photonic integrated circuit design and test house based in Valencia, Spain, acquired by Hitachi High-Tech in 2020. It delivers end-to-end PIC engineering services — consulting, design, foundry coordination, testing, assembly, and packaging — to enterprise customers across datacom, telecom, quantum, LiDAR, sensing, and bio-photonics markets.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2011
- HeadquartersValencia, Spain
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What VLC Photonics does
VLC Photonics is a fabless photonic integrated circuit (PIC) design and test house founded in July 2011 as a spin-off from the Polytechnic University of Valencia. The company delivers end-to-end PIC engineering services — consulting, design, manufacturing coordination, testing, assembly, and packaging — to enterprise and mid-market customers across datacom, telecom, quantum, LiDAR, sensing, and bio-photonics. It operates across ten material platforms including silicon photonics (SOI), silicon nitride, indium phosphide, lithium niobate on insulator (TFLN), and emerging materials such as barium titanate, graphene, and silicon carbide, coordinating tape-outs through more than 20 foundry partners.
Its core technology combines proprietary design models that extend beyond standard foundry process design kits with state-of-the-art testing infrastructure worth over €5M, including two automated wafer-level testers, RF testing up to 110 GHz, eye-diagram and BER characterization, and a 500 m² ISO Class 6 clean room at the Polytechnic City of Innovation in Paterna, Spain. Capabilities extend to semi-automated wire and flip-chip bonding, fiber pig-tailing, and thermal cycling from -40°C to 100°C. The firm holds ISO 9001:2015 certification and integrates the OpenLight Process Design Kit (Tower PH18DA) into its design flow for active and passive components.
Since November 2020 VLC has operated as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hitachi High-Tech Group, which provides global commercial reach, complementary funding, and a North American sales channel through Hitachi High-Tech America in Santa Clara, CA. VLC generates revenue primarily through project-based engineering service fees structured as engineering time at a flat daily rate, tool-usage charges, and materials at cost, with no publicly listed pricing tiers. The 2025 €5.38M IPCEI/PERTE Chip grant, the 2026 North American expansion, and recent partnerships with OpenLight and ficonTEC underpin a strategic push to scale beyond the current 29-employee base into a global PIC engineering services platform.
VLC Photonics firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- VLC Photonics
- Legal name
- VLC Photonics Sociedad Limitada (S.L.)
- Website
- https://vlcphotonics.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2011
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- VLC Photonics is a fabless photonic integrated circuit design and test house based in Valencia, Spain, acquired by Hitachi High-Tech in 2020. It delivers end-to-end PIC engineering services — consulting, design, foundry coordination, testing, assembly, and packaging — to enterprise customers across datacom, telecom, quantum, LiDAR, sensing, and bio-photonics markets.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
VLC Photonics industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Photonics Engineering Services
- NAICS
- Testing Laboratories and Services (541380), Custom Computer Programming Services (541511)
- SIC
- Services-Testing Laboratories (8734), Services-Computer Programming Services (7371)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Quality Engineering & Test Automation (QE/QA) (BPAEAFAJ)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Audio, Imaging & Multimedia SoCs (ISP/Codec/Display) (HDAHABAH)
Keywords
Where VLC Photonics is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Valencia
- HQ country
- Spain
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices3 records
Markets served
VLC Photonics business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain
Revenue model
- Engineering Services (Design, Testing, Consulting): VLC Photonics generates revenue primarily through project-based engineering service fees. Pricing is structured around engineering time at a flat daily rate, billing for advanced photonic testing and design equipment usage, and materials costs charged based on actual use. Services cover consultancy, PIC design, manufacturing coordination, testing, assembly, and packaging.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Other | Pay-as-you-go | Project-based engineering services with transparent pricing |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels7 records
VLC Photonics product offering
Product offeringCore offering
VLC Photonics is a fabless photonic design and test house providing end-to-end Photonic Integrated Circuit (PIC) engineering services. The offering spans photonic integration consulting, PIC design and simulation, foundry and manufacturing coordination across 20+ partners and multiple material platforms, automated wafer-level and die-level photonic testing up to 110 GHz, in-house assembly (wire bonding, flip-chip, fiber pig-tailing), and access to packaging partners. All services are delivered on a project basis to enterprise and mid-market customers in datacom, telecom, quantum, LiDAR, sensing, and bio-photonics applications.
Product overview
VLC Photonics is a fabless photonic design and test house offering end-to-end PIC engineering services rather than off-the-shelf products. Its core product is a unified service spanning Consultancy, Design, Manufacturing coordination, Testing, Assembly, and Packaging. Supporting offerings include two training courses (PIC Design Course and PIC Testing Course) held at VLC Photonics' Valencia facilities, and a knowledge resource covering Photonic Integration Platforms across ten material types (Silica, Silicon Photonics/SOI, Silicon Nitride/SiN, Aluminum Oxide, Lithium Niobate on Insulator/LNOI, Indium Phosphide/InP, Barium Titanate, Silicon Carbide, Germanium Antimony, and Graphene). The company operates across multiple material platforms and application markets including datacom, telecom, quantum, LiDAR, sensing, and bio-photonics, and became part of the Hitachi High-Tech Group in 2020.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Photonic Integration Consulting
Quantifiable outcome
- Over 36,000 measurements can be conducted in approximately 1.5 days for 6 wafers with 300+ dies per wafer
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use VLC Photonics
Customer profileNamed customers3 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
VLC Photonics technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature6 records
VLC Photonics partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- Hitachi High-Tech America, Inc. (HTA)coreVLC Photonics announced strategic collaboration with HTA in North America, transferring Alberto Hinojosa to HTA's Santa Clara, California office as US-based Business Development Manager. This collaboration strengthens VLC Photonics' presence in North America, leveraging HTA's commercial infrastructure and customer relationships. VLC Photonics' design and testing expertise provides a technological foundation for joint growth with HTA's global commercial reach.
- ficonTECcoreVLC Photonics and ficonTEC established a collaboration in 2021 (four years prior to 2025) to demonstrate advanced automated die-level testing and assembly. VLC's expertise in PIC testing and assembly has been instrumental in adapting ficonTEC's testing platforms to photonics production workflows. Key advancements include automated loading of up to 8 different gel packs, optical alignment time of less than 10 seconds per device, enhanced reconfigurability for electrical and optical probing, and automated testing with power stability less than 0.02 dB variation and inter-operation repeatability less than 0.1 dB.
- Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV)minorVLC Photonics is part of the PIC-UPV Chair project, which has been granted €4.2 million for UPV and €3 million for UC3M in the field of photonics, associated with the PERTE Chip initiative. VLC Photonics provides instrumentation, characterization techniques, and automation processes knowledge, and collaborates with UC3M on a PhD research position focused on interconnecting photonic chips with optical fibers.
- OpenLightcoreVLC Photonics partnered with OpenLight to expand its PIC design and test capacity by incorporating OpenLight's Process Design Kit (PDK) into its offerings. The PDK covers both active and passive components with heterogeneous integration for lasing and amplification on Tower Semiconductor's PH18DA process. VLC Photonics supports OpenLight's customers with automated electro-optical die and wafer-level characterization for vertical and edge-coupling fiber configurations, as well as high-speed testing up to 110 GHz. The partnership enables customers to use Synopsys OptoCompiler for first-time-right design implementation.
- Hitachi High-Tech GroupcoreVLC Photonics became part of the Hitachi High-Tech group in November 2020, evolving from a university spin-off (founded July 2011) to a global leader in photonic integration solutions. The acquisition brought additional resources, investment, and global commercial reach, enabling VLC to upgrade capabilities with semi-automated wire bonding, flip-chip technology, and access to Hitachi's partner companies for volume manufacturing and packaging scaling. Hitachi High-Tech provides additional funding to complement IPCEI grants and supports VLC's North American expansion through Hitachi High-Tech America.
Scale indicators5 records
Recent moves8 records
Expansion highlights6 records
VLC Photonics competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- AIM Photonics: US-based public-private partnership operating a comprehensive silicon photonics manufacturing ecosystem. Comparable to VLC Photonics in advancing photonic integrated circuit adoption, though AIM Photonics is a much larger US government-backed consortium providing foundry services and PDKs.
- Synopsys: Global EDA and photonic design automation leader providing the OptoCompiler platform that VLC Photonics uses in its design courses and customer engagements. Comparable as an enabler of PIC design workflows and a partner in the photonic design ecosystem, though Synopsys operates at vastly larger scale as a software platform provider.
- Tower Semiconductor: Israel-based specialty foundry offering the PH18DA silicon photonics process that VLC Photonics accesses through its OpenLight partnership. Comparable as a critical infrastructure provider in the photonic IC supply chain, though Tower operates at much larger scale as a multi-technology foundry serving semiconductor customers globally.
- SMART Photonics: Netherlands-based independent foundry for Indium Phosphide (InP) photonic integrated circuits. Comparable to VLC Photonics in serving the same PIC customer ecosystem and InP technology platforms, though SMART Photonics operates a foundry model while VLC coordinates manufacturing across 20+ foundries including SMART.
Emerging players
- Ligentec: Switzerland-based PIC foundry specializing in silicon nitride and low-loss photonic integrated circuits. Comparable to VLC Photonics as a European-based photonics company serving similar application markets (datacom, quantum, sensing), though Ligentec operates as a foundry rather than a fabless design house.
- ficonTEC: Germany-based manufacturer of automated photonic assembly and test equipment. Comparable to VLC Photonics through its partnership enabling advanced die-level PIC testing, and overlaps in the photonics testing equipment market, though ficonTEC primarily sells equipment while VLC provides testing services.
- OpenLight: US-based photonic integrated circuit company providing Process Design Kits (PDKs) with integrated lasers and amplifiers on Tower Semiconductor's PH18DA process. Comparable to VLC Photonics as a strategic partner in the PIC design services ecosystem and serves similar photonics customers.
Direct peers
- Effect Photonics: Dutch fabless photonic integrated circuit company focused on coherent optical transceivers for telecom and datacom. Both VLC Photonics and Effect Photonics operate fabless models developing PIC-based solutions for high-speed optical communications, though Effect Photonics is more product-focused while VLC is services-focused.
- Bright Photonics: Dutch fabless PIC design house offering design, simulation, and tape-out services across InP, SOI, SiN, and TriPleX platforms. Closely comparable to VLC Photonics as a competing European fabless PIC design services provider serving similar academic and enterprise customers.
- iPronics: Programmable photonics company founded by VLC Photonics co-founder José Capmany. Both firms share technical lineage in PIC design and target similar advanced applications in datacom, quantum, and AI, making iPronics a direct peer in the photonic design services and programmable PIC space.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
VLC Photonics social profiles
Digital presenceVLC Photonics compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance1 record
VLC Photonics financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
VLC Photonics leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles9 records
VLC Photonics funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
VLC Photonics M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about VLC Photonics
What does VLC Photonics do?
VLC Photonics is a fabless photonic design and test house providing end-to-end Photonic Integrated Circuit (PIC) engineering services. The offering spans photonic integration consulting, PIC design and simulation, foundry and manufacturing coordination across 20+ partners and multiple material platforms, automated wafer-level and die-level photonic testing up to 110 GHz, in-house assembly (wire bonding, flip-chip, fiber pig-tailing), and access to packaging partners. All services are delivered on a project basis to enterprise and mid-market customers in datacom, telecom, quantum, LiDAR, sensing, and bio-photonics applications.
Is VLC Photonics a public or private company?
VLC Photonics is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently operating.
When was VLC Photonics founded?
VLC Photonics was founded in 2011. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is VLC Photonics based?
VLC Photonics is headquartered in Valencia, Spain, in the Europe region.
How does VLC Photonics make money?
One revenue line is on record: engineering Services (Design, Testing, Consulting).
Who are VLC Photonics's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are AIM Photonics, Synopsys, Tower Semiconductor and SMART Photonics. Emerging players are Ligentec, ficonTEC and OpenLight. Direct peers are Effect Photonics, Bright Photonics and iPronics.
Does VLC Photonics have an API?
No public API is recorded for VLC Photonics.
What industry is VLC Photonics in?
VLC Photonics's product category is Photonics Engineering Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAEAFAJ, Quality Engineering & Test Automation (QE/QA), with a secondary code of HDAHABAH, Audio, Imaging & Multimedia SoCs (ISP/Codec/Display). Its NAICS code is 541380 and its SIC code is 8734.