Luxtelligence
Luxtelligence is a Swiss photonic integrated circuit foundry spun off from EPFL that fabricates optoelectronic devices on Thin-Film Lithium Niobate and Lithium Tantalate platforms, serving AI/cloud, telecom, quantum, and research customers via MPW, DPW, and volume production services.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2022
- HeadquartersSaint-sulpice, Switzerland
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingHardware or Manufacturing
What Luxtelligence does
Luxtelligence S.A. is a Swiss photonic integrated circuit (PIC) foundry spun off from EPFL in Q4 2022, headquartered at EPFL Innovation Park in Saint-Sulpice. The company designs, fabricates, and tests optoelectronic devices built on its TFLX platform, which leverages Thin-Film Lithium Niobate (LN-CORE) and Thin-Film Lithium Tantalate (LT-PRO) materials exploiting the Pockels Effect for optical modulation. Its proprietary Diamond-Like Carbon (DLC) etching technology, developed during the EPFL research phase, underpins industrial-grade fabrication of thin-film ferroelectric materials. Core products include two material platforms, open-access Process Design Kits (lnoi400 and ltoi300), packaged electro-optic modulators with >110 GHz bandwidth, and a volume production roadmap to 150mm and 200mm wafer lines.
The company serves photonic IC designers across AI/cloud computing, telecommunications, quantum computing, space/aerospace, and academic research segments. Revenue is generated through Multi-Project Wafer (MPW) runs, Dedicated Project Wafer (DPW) runs, reference die sales, packaged modulator sales, custom fabrication services, design consulting, and emerging volume manufacturing contracts. Go-to-market combines direct B2B sales with a product-led open-access PDK strategy distributed via GDSFactory, KLayout, PhotonForge, EPDA platforms, and GitHub. Pricing is quote-based, with multi-year contracts reserved for the volume production tier.
Luxtelligence's customer base includes CNIT, KAIST, and Orca Computing, with notable partnerships spanning EPFL and KIT (research foundation), ESA (Innovation Award and Horizon Europe grants), Keysight and Anritsu (live demonstration at OFC), Lumina Corp (wafer supply), and imec (heterogeneous integration). The team is led by co-founders Nick Sauerwein (Interim CEO), Alberto Beccari (CTO), and Rui Ning Wang (Head of Microfabrication), with scientific advisors Prof. Tobias J. Kippenberg and Prof. Christian Koos, and operational leadership from COO Alessandra Di Leo.
Luxtelligence firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Luxtelligence
- Legal name
- Luxtelligence S.A.
- Website
- https://luxtelligence.ai
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2022
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Luxtelligence is a Swiss photonic integrated circuit foundry spun off from EPFL that fabricates optoelectronic devices on Thin-Film Lithium Niobate and Lithium Tantalate platforms, serving AI/cloud, telecom, quantum, and research customers via MPW, DPW, and volume production services.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Luxtelligence industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Photonic Semiconductor Foundry
- NAICS
- Semiconductor Machinery Manufacturing (333242)
- SIC
- Semiconductors & Related Devices (3674)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Optoelectronic / Photonics Foundries (Silicon Photonics/LED/Laser) (HDAHACAG)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Optoelectronic Receivers & Transceivers (Photodetectors/Optical Modules) (HDAHALAM), Optoelectronic Emitters (LED/Laser/VCSEL) (HDAHALAL), Optoelectronics & Photonics (LED/Laser/Optical ICs) (HDAHAAAH)
Keywords
Where Luxtelligence is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Saint-sulpice
- HQ country
- Switzerland
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
Luxtelligence business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Hardware or Manufacturing
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Infrastructure, Supply Chain, Operations
Revenue model
- MPW (Multi-Project Wafer) Runs: Clients submit designs to shared wafer batches, sharing costs while preserving design confidentiality. Standard die sizes and fixed vertical stack. Primary entry point for customers.
- DPW (Dedicated Project Wafer) Runs: Full wafer space dedicated to single client with flexibility in die size, wafer quantity, and optional custom vertical stack configurations.
- Packaged Modulator Sales: Sale of packaged electro-optic modulators with specifications including 110 GHz bandwidth, 3.5V half-wave voltage, >30dB extinction ratio, and FC/APC PM optical connections.
- Reference Dies: Off-the-shelf modulator dies available for immediate evaluation and rapid prototyping.
- PDK Licensing: Process Design Kits licensed through open-access model for circuit design, with availability through EPDA platforms and PhotonForge.
- Custom Fabrication Services: Bespoke photonic solutions for unique physics requirements including custom layer stacks, broad wavelength optimization (visible to mid-IR), and integration readiness services.
- Known-Good Dies (KGD): 100% tested dies delivered instead of bare wafers, performing wafer-level probing for optical insertion loss, DC connectivity, and Vpi specifications.
- Design Consulting Services: Design support including comprehensive design manuals, reference designs on GitHub, DRC assistance, and validation of components.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Transaction based/ take rate | Pay-as-you-go | MPW (Multi-Project Wafer) Runs - shared wafer space for fast prototyping |
| Transaction based/ take rate | Multi-year contract | DPW (Dedicated Project Wafer) Runs - full wafer dedicated to client |
| Unit Pricing | Multi-year contract | Volume Manufacturing - 150mm and 200mm production lines |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Reference Dies - off-the-shelf modulator dies |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels6 records
Luxtelligence product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Luxtelligence is a semiconductor foundry specializing in optoelectronic photonic integrated circuits (PICs) built on thin-film ferroelectric materials. It operates two core platforms — LN-CORE (Thin-Film Lithium Niobate) optimized for R&D agility and LT-PRO (Thin-Film Lithium Tantalate) engineered for industrial volume scale — and offers Multi-Project Wafer (MPW) and Dedicated Project Wafer (DPW) foundry services, open-access Process Design Kits (lnoi400 and ltoi300), packaged electro-optic modulators, Known-Good Die delivery, custom fabrication, and transfer to 150mm/200mm volume production lines.
Product overview
Luxtelligence is a semiconductor foundry specializing in optoelectronic photonic integrated circuits (PICs) built on advanced ferroelectric materials. The portfolio consists of two core material platforms: LN-CORE (Thin-Film Lithium Niobate) optimized for R&D agility with 14-week turnaround, and LT-PRO (Thin-Film Lithium Tantalate) engineered for industrial volume scale with superior stability. These platforms are complemented by open-access PDKs (lnoi400 for LN-CORE, ltoi300 for LT-PRO), packaged modulators, multi-project wafer (MPW) and dedicated project wafer (DPW) foundry services, Known Good Dies (KGD) delivery, custom fabrication capabilities using proprietary DLC etching technology, and volume production scaling to 150mm/200mm production lines. The company operates as a full-stack foundry from design support through wafer fabrication and test.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- LN-CORE: Agile platform for high-performance R&D, built on Thin-Film Lithium Niobate with 14-week lead time and optimized for speed and design iteration.
- LT-PRO
- lnoi400
- ltoi300
Products and services
- LN-CORE Thin-Film Lithium Niobate (TFLN) platform optimized for R&D speed and design iteration. Features 400nm TFLN on insulator with single buffered metallization, O-band and C-band operation, >110 GHz electro-optic bandwidth, 14-week MPW lead time, and bundled with the lnoi400 open-access PDK.
- LT-PRO Thin-Film Lithium Tantalate (TFLT) platform engineered for industrial deployment and volume manufacturing. Features 300nm TFLT, negligible birefringence, >1W optical power handling, ultra-low bias drift, and a qualified path to 150mm and 200mm production via foundry partners, with the ltoi300 open-access PDK.
- lnoi400 Open-Access PDK Open-access Process Design Kit for the LN-CORE platform featuring C-band active and passive components including phase/amplitude modulators, edge/grating couplers, optical resonators, MMIs, and thermo-optic phase shifters. Available via PhotonForge, EPDA platforms and GDSFactory on GitHub.
- ltoi300 Open-Access PDK Open-access Process Design Kit for the LT-PRO platform supporting O-band and C-band with integrated microwave terminations, optimized high-speed modulators, MMI splitters and edge couplers. Available via PhotonForge, EPDA platforms and GDSFactory on GitHub.
- Packaged Modulators Customizable packaged electro-optic units featuring 110 GHz working bandwidth, 3.5V half-wave voltage, >30 dB extinction ratio, and <10 dB insertion loss. Supports C/L/O optical bands with FC/APC PM optical connection and 1.0mm coaxial RF connection.
- MPW (Multi-Project Wafer) Runs Multi-Project Wafer service enabling multiple clients to share wafer space for cost-effective fast prototyping and design testing. Fixed vertical stack to optimized configuration; clients receive at least 12 chip copies. TFLN lead time 14 weeks, TFLT lead time 18 weeks.
- DPW (Dedicated Project Wafer) Runs Dedicated Project Wafer service where entire wafer space is allocated to one client with flexible die size and wafer quantity, plus optional custom vertical stack configurations. Typical start with 2 wafers, extendable to 6-8 wafers.
- Known Good Dies (KGD) 100% tested dies delivered instead of bare wafers, including wafer-level probing for optical insertion loss, DC connectivity, and Vπ. Customers pay only for dies meeting specifications, reducing packaging cost and risk.
- Custom Fabrication Beyond-PDK custom fabrication services using the TFLX technology platform for unique device architectures, including broad wavelength optimization (visible 400-700nm, mid-infrared 2-5μm), custom layer stacks, and integration readiness preparation, leveraging proprietary DLC etching technology.
- Volume Production High-volume manufacturing roadmap from prototype to mass production, including seamless transfer to dedicated 150mm (6-inch) and 200mm (8-inch) production lines with capacity scaling from thousands to tens of thousands of wafers per month, unified PDK, dual-foundry supply chain resilience, and Statistical Process Control.
Quantifiable outcome
- Nearly 400 Gb/s data transmission - four times faster than silicon chips
- +8 more outcomes
Companies that use Luxtelligence
Customer profileNamed customers3 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles5 records
Luxtelligence technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration5 records
Feature7 records
Luxtelligence partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- European Space Agency (ESA)coreESA awarded Innovation Award recognizing breakthrough photonic IC work. Funded projects under Horizon Europe EIC grants No. 101187231 (CIELO) and No. 101187515 (ELLIPTIC).
- KeysightminorCollaboration for live demonstration of high-speed data transmission at OFC San Francisco conference.
- AnritsuminorCollaboration for live demonstration of high-speed data transmission at OFC San Francisco conference.
- CNIT (National Laboratory for Photonic Technologies)coreClose and highly constructive partnership for LNOI/LTOI foundry services spanning nearly three years since early adoption of LNOI technology, with continued joint development extending toward LTOI platforms.
- EPFL (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne)coreLPQM at EPFL, led by Prof. Tobias J. Kippenberg, established the research foundation for TFLX platform through collaboration combining world-class microfabrication expertise. Luxtelligence spun off from EPFL in 2022.
- KIT (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology)coreIPQ at KIT, led by Prof. Christian Koos, contributed high-speed optical communications expertise to establish TFLX platform research foundation.
Scale indicators11 records
Recent moves9 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Luxtelligence competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Ligentec: Ligentec is a Switzerland-based TFLN (Thin-Film Lithium Niobate) photonic integrated circuit foundry offering MPW services and custom fabrication. Closest direct peer — same country, same material platform, same foundry business model, and directly competing for the same academic and enterprise PIC customers.
- Freedom Photonics: Freedom Photonics is a US-based manufacturer of photonic integrated circuits and semiconductor lasers for industrial, defense, and sensing applications. Comparable as a vertically-integrated photonic IC company serving industrial and research customers with custom and standard PIC products.
- CompoundTek: CompoundTek is a Singapore-based silicon photonics foundry service provider offering MPW/DPW runs and custom fabrication across multiple foundries. Directly comparable foundry business model targeting similar customers, though primarily silicon-based versus Luxtelligence's TFLN/TFLT focus.
- VLC Photonics: VLC Photonics is a Spain-based photonic integrated circuit design house and foundry services broker offering MPW shuttles across multiple material platforms including TFLN. Comparable in providing foundry access and design services, though more platform-agnostic than Luxtelligence's vertically-integrated approach.
- NanoLN: NanoLN is a Japan-based foundry specializing in thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN) wafer fabrication and foundry services for photonic integrated circuits. Directly competes with Luxtelligence's LN-CORE platform for TFLN prototyping and volume manufacturing customers.
Emerging players
- Effect Photonics: Effect Photonics is a Netherlands-based developer of integrated optical transceivers for 5G and datacom applications using InP-based photonic integration. Adjacent emerging player targeting similar high-volume optical interconnect markets with a different integration technology.
- Lightwave Logic: Lightwave Logic is a US-based public company developing electro-optic polymer-based photonic integrated circuits for datacom and telecom applications. Comparable as an emerging player pursuing high-performance modulator technology, though using a different material platform (polymers vs. TFLN/TFLT).
Broad incumbents
- Intel (Silicon Photonics division): Intel has a silicon photonics business producing optical transceivers and integrated photonic devices at scale for datacenter applications. Broad incumbent with massive manufacturing scale; competes at the system level rather than as a foundry, but anchors the silicon photonics competitive threat to TFLN/TFLT modulators.
- Marvell (Inphi): Marvell's Inphi division designs high-speed data interconnect semiconductor solutions including PAM4 DSPs and optical components for cloud and telecom networks. Broad incumbent serving the same datacenter optical interconnect market with established silicon photonics platforms.
- Cisco (Acacia): Cisco's Acacia subsidiary designs and manufactures high-performance coherent optical interconnect products using silicon photonics. Broad incumbent in optical communications targeting the same telecom and datacom markets Luxtelligence addresses with modulators.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Luxtelligence social profiles
Digital presenceLuxtelligence financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Luxtelligence leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles13 records
Luxtelligence funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Luxtelligence 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 Luxtelligence
What does Luxtelligence do?
Luxtelligence is a semiconductor foundry specializing in optoelectronic photonic integrated circuits (PICs) built on thin-film ferroelectric materials. It operates two core platforms — LN-CORE (Thin-Film Lithium Niobate) optimized for R&D agility and LT-PRO (Thin-Film Lithium Tantalate) engineered for industrial volume scale — and offers Multi-Project Wafer (MPW) and Dedicated Project Wafer (DPW) foundry services, open-access Process Design Kits (lnoi400 and ltoi300), packaged electro-optic modulators, Known-Good Die delivery, custom fabrication, and transfer to 150mm/200mm volume production lines.
Is Luxtelligence a public or private company?
Luxtelligence is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Luxtelligence founded?
Luxtelligence was founded in 2022. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Luxtelligence based?
Luxtelligence is headquartered in Saint-sulpice, Switzerland, in the Europe region.
How does Luxtelligence make money?
Eight revenue lines are on record. MPW (Multi-Project Wafer) Runs are the primary driver. The others are DPW (Dedicated Project Wafer) Runs, packaged Modulator Sales, reference Dies, PDK Licensing, custom Fabrication Services, known-Good Dies (KGD) and design Consulting Services.
Who are Luxtelligence's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Ligentec, Freedom Photonics, CompoundTek, VLC Photonics and NanoLN. Emerging players are Effect Photonics and Lightwave Logic. Broad incumbents are Intel (Silicon Photonics division), Marvell (Inphi) and Cisco (Acacia).
Does Luxtelligence have an API?
No public API is recorded for Luxtelligence.
What industry is Luxtelligence in?
Luxtelligence's product category is Photonic Semiconductor Foundry. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HDAHACAG, Optoelectronic / Photonics Foundries (Silicon Photonics/LED/Laser), with a secondary code of HDAHALAM, Optoelectronic Receivers & Transceivers (Photodetectors/Optical Modules). Its NAICS code is 333242 and its SIC code is 3674.