- The Shanghai startup will use the proceeds to expand its team, tape out chips and accelerate commercialization of silicon photonics products
- Founded by veterans from IBM, Xilinx and Shanghai Jiao Tong University, the company is developing optical I/O and optical circuit switching technologies to ease AI data center bottlenecks
PhotonNex (芯界光核) has completed multiple seed funding rounds totaling around 100 million yuan ($14.7 million), joining a wave of investment into optical interconnect technologies seen as critical to next-generation AI computing infrastructure.
The financing was jointly led by Inspiration Investment, Hanyuan Asset and Xiaomiao Fund. Tongding Group, an optical communications industry investor, and Junding Fund also participated.
The proceeds will be used to expand the core engineering team, tape out chips, advance engineering validation and accelerate product development.
From lab to startup
Founded in January 2026, PhotonNex was established by researchers from the Shanghai Jiao Tong University and industry veterans. Co-founders Ying Ying (应莺) and Shi Bo (史博), classmates at Peking University, each have more than 20 years of experience in hard-tech product development and corporate management, including roles at IBM and Xilinx.
Academic co-founders Professors Lu Liangjun (陆梁军) and Li Yu (李雨) are among China’s earliest researchers in silicon photonics, having spent nearly two decades developing optical transceiver chips, co-packaged optics and optical circuit switching technologies.
The company is developing its Photonic Nexus platform, which targets AI clusters and intelligent computing centers with an end-to-end optical interconnect architecture spanning silicon photonic chips, optical engines and optical switching systems.
Betting on optical switching
Unlike conventional designs that rely primarily on optical I/O, PhotonNex combines optical I/O with optical circuit switching, or OCS, enabling direct optical-to-optical routing that reduces the latency and energy consumption associated with repeated optical-electrical-optical conversions.
Interest in optical interconnect technologies has accelerated alongside the rapid expansion of AI infrastructure.
Lightelligence (曦智科技) listed in Hong Kong in April as the city’s first “optical computing” stock, while silicon photonics startup Cowin Tech (珂阳科技) and fellow Shanghai Jiao Tong University spinout Focuslight (矩光科技) have also raised fresh capital in recent months.
PhotonNex has chosen a silicon photonics approach for OCS rather than traditional MEMS mirror technology, arguing it offers advantages in size, cost, reliability and large-scale integration.
Its completed 32×32 silicon-based OCS chip ranks among industry leaders on key metrics such as insertion loss, according to the company, while development of a 64-port version is underway.
“PhotonNex brings together a rare combination of world-class scientists and experienced industry operators,” Inspiration Investment said in a statement. “The Shanghai Jiao Tong University team has accumulated more than two decades of expertise in silicon photonics, while the management team has deep experience commercializing hard technologies.”
“We believe the company is well positioned to become a key infrastructure provider for next-generation AI computing clusters,” the backer added.
Capital rush into photonics
The commercialization outlook has also strengthened following the release of China’s 2026-2028 “AI + Information and Communications” development plan, which identifies photonic chips and OCS devices as foundational technologies for AI infrastructure.
Industry observers say optical I/O and optical circuit switching are becoming essential rather than optional as AI clusters scale toward millions of accelerators, helping overcome the bandwidth and power limitations of conventional electrical switching.
PhotonNex’s roadmap centers on both optical I/O and silicon-based OCS products, leveraging a common technology platform built around Mach-Zehnder interferometer and microring resonator modulators.
The company said 200G and 400G silicon photonic integrated circuit products are moving toward mass production, co-packaged optics engines will begin customer sampling by year-end, and optical I/O products for GPU cluster scale-up networks are expected to enter pilot production in 2028.
The first OCS system based on its 32×32 switching chip is scheduled for launch early next year.
