Ayar Labs has become the latest optical interconnect to score big money, securing a $155 million Series D led by Advent International and Light Street Capital at a valuation of more than $1 billion.
A number of strategic companies participated in the new round, including AMD Ventures, Intel Capital, Nvidia, 3M New Ventures, and Autopilot. Existing investors also participated, including Applied Ventures LLC, Axial Partners, Boardman Bay Capital Management, GlobalFoundries, IAG Capital Partners, Lockheed Martin Ventures, Playground Global, and VentureTech Alliance.
Ayar’s optical solutions for transmitting data replace older electrical solutions and help users maximize the computational efficiency and performance of their artificial intelligence infrastructure while reducing costs and power consumption.
Founded in 2015, Ayar has raised $370 million to date, according to the company.
Huge profits to be made with optical interconnects
Ayar is just the latest optical interconnect startup to solve AI bottlenecks in computing and power usage.
In October, Lightmatter locked up a $400 million Series D led by new investor T. Rowe Price at a valuation of $4.4 billion. The round follows a $155 million raise led by GV, which also joined Fidelity in the new round, nearly quadrupling its previous valuation of $1.2 billion in December.
The same week, Xscape Photonics (a New York-based startup that also uses photonics technology to address energy, performance, and scalability challenges in AI data centers), led by IAG Capital Partners and with investment from Cisco and others, announced Raised $44 million in Series A. Investment and Nvidia.
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