Leeds-based photonic
computing company Optalysys has raised £23 million in a Series A extension
round led by Northern Gritstone, with participation from imec.xpand, Lingotto
Horizon, and the UK government’s National Security Strategic Investment Fund
(NSSIF).
Optalysys is
developing a photonic computing approach that integrates data movement and
processing on a single chip, combining silicon photonics with digital
technologies to increase computational capacity while improving energy
efficiency.
The company is
building a programmable, high-density computing layer designed to support
compute-intensive workloads, including generative AI and post-quantum
algorithms, as part of next-generation cloud infrastructure. A key application
is fully homomorphic encryption, which enables data to be processed while
remaining encrypted and is increasingly relevant for secure cloud and
enterprise environments.
Early
implementations of this technology are deployed in Optalysys’ LightLocker™ Node
servers, which are designed to support encrypted blockchain applications.
According to Dr Nick New, CEO and co-founder of Optalysys, photonic computing represents a major
shift in the evolution of computing by enabling data to be moved and processed
with significantly greater speed and efficiency. He added that the investment reflects
the scale of the opportunity and supports the company’s ambition to bring
photonic computing closer to mainstream adoption in cloud infrastructure.
To
support this next phase, the company will use the funding to accelerate the
commercialisation of its proprietary photonic chips and further develop its
programmable computing technology for AI, cloud, and security applications.
In
parallel, Optalysys plans to expand into the US, establishing a presence within
the country’s photonics and semiconductor ecosystem to support wider market
adoption.