Ayar Labs, global experts in optical interconnect solutions for large-scale AI workloads, has announced that it has successfully raised $155 million in Series D funding address the bottlenecks in data movement for AI infrastructure with its optical I/O technology.
This funding allows the company to scale its breakthrough technology, the industry’s first and only known in-package optical I/O solution backed by a robust manufacturing ecosystem.
Strategic Funding to Scale Optical I/O Technology
Led by Advent Global Opportunities and Light Street Capital, this financing brings Ayar Labs’ total funding to $370 million, raising its valuation to over $1 billion. Strategic participation from industry leaders such as AMD Ventures, Intel Capital, and NVIDIA underscores the technology’s potential to redefine AI infrastructure as Ayar Labs aligns its high-volume manufacturing plans with customer roadmaps.
Led by Advent Global Opportunities and Light Street Capital, this financing brings Ayar Labs’ total funding to $370 million, raising its valuation to over $1 billion. Strategic participation from industry leaders such as AMD Ventures, Intel Capital, and NVIDIA underscores the technology’s potential to redefine AI infrastructure as Ayar Labs aligns its high-volume manufacturing plans with customer roadmaps.
Other participants in this Series D round include 3M Ventures, Autopilot, and existing investors such as Applied Ventures LLC, Axial Partners, Boardman Bay Capital Management, GlobalFoundries, IAG Capital Partners, Lockheed Martin Ventures, Playground Global, and VentureTech Alliance.
“The leading GPU providers – AMD and NVIDIA – and semiconductor foundries – GlobalFoundries, Intel Foundry, and TSMC – combined with the backing of Advent, Light Street, and our other investors underscores the potential of our optical I/O technology to redefine the future of AI infrastructure,” said Mark Wade, CEO and co-founder of Ayar Labs. “We are incredibly fortunate to have the backing of Light Street’s deep expertise in technology-specific investments as well as Advent’s robust private and growth equity background in this funding round.”
Accelerating Optical I/O for AI
Ayar Labs has developed the industry’s first and only known in-package optical I/O solution to replace traditional copper interconnects. This standards-based, commercial-ready technology is optimized for AI training and inference, enabling increased compute efficiency and performance while reducing costs and power consumption.
“We believe optical I/O is on the cusp of revolutionizing the future of AI infrastructure,” said Jordan Katz, partner at Advent Global Opportunities. “Our research revealed Ayar Labs’ industry-leading technology and exciting Tier 1 customer engagements. We are confident in its transformative potential for AI systems.”
The funding will enable Ayar Labs to scale its manufacturing capabilities and further align with customer roadmaps to meet the growing market demand for optical I/O solutions.
Addressing Industry Needs
The AI infrastructure market is projected to exceed $1 trillion in investments over the next decade. Ayar Labs’ optical I/O technology is positioned to play a crucial role in resolving bottlenecks created by the limitations of traditional electrical interconnects and pluggable optics.
Ayar Labs has developed the industry’s first standards-based, commercially ready in-package optical I/O technology as an alternative to traditional electrical I/O. This solution is specifically optimized for AI training and inference, enabling customers to enhance compute efficiency, improve performance, and significantly reduce costs and power consumption. These advancements translate directly into measurable improvements in profitability metrics for AI applications, positioning Ayar Labs’ optical interconnect solutions as critical components for next-generation AI systems.
Noted Jordan Katz, partner at Advent Global Opportunities, who also now joins Ayar Labs’ Board of Directors, “We believe optical I/O is on the cusp of revolutionizing the future of AI infrastructure, and we recognize the significant growth potential of in-package optical interconnects. Our deep research into the interconnect market revealed that Ayar Labs is led by a world-class team, has industry-leading technology, and exciting engagements with Tier 1 customers. We believe that supporting Ayar Labs and its groundbreaking technology will offer transformative benefits to AI systems.”
Added Shef Osborn, partner at Light Street Capital, “We are committed to fueling the growth of companies that lead technological innovation. With this significant capital infusion, Ayar Labs is well-positioned to support its growing customer base and meet the explosive demand for optical I/O solutions,. This funding demonstrates to its customers that Ayar Labs has the resources necessary to support their AI infrastructure needs.”
Investor Insights
“Intel Capital has long recognized the importance of pioneering new interconnect technologies to improve compute efficiency and performance,” said Srini Ananth, managing director at Intel Capital. “We have been dedicated to supporting Ayar Labs’ continued growth and are proud to reaffirm our commitment to its optical I/O solutions that aim to disrupt the AI industry.”
“As an early investor and collaborator, Applied Ventures looks forward to continue working with Ayar Labs to advance energy-efficient computing using photonics-based optical interconnects,” said Anand Kamannavar, global head of Applied Ventures and board observer of Ayar Labs. “Ayar Labs plays a key role in helping solve the critical challenge of moving vast amounts of data efficiently across chips and data center systems.”
“3M is excited to invest in Ayar Labs and our opportunities to collaborate,” said Mark Copman, senior vice president, 3M New Growth Ventures. “This partnership reinforces 3M’s commitment to advancing data center and next-gen solutions for AI infrastructure using 3M’s leading material science expertise.”
Scaling Innovation and Workforce Growth
Ayar Labs plans to expand its workforce to support increased demand for its solutions, with open roles listed on its website.
About Ayar Labs
Founded in 2015, Ayar Labs is the leader in optical interconnect solutions that move data at the speed of AI. Recognizing that the complexity and size of AI models are increasing at a rate that traditional interconnect technology cannot handle, the company has developed the industry’s first optical I/O solution that enables customers to maximize the compute efficiency and performance of growing AI infrastructure while reducing costs, latency, and power consumption. Based on open standards and optimized for both AI training and inference, Ayar Labs’ optical I/O solution is backed by a robust ecosystem that integrates seamlessly into AI systems at scale.
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