Photonic integrated circuit with microarchitectural details. [Image: Getty Images]
PhotonVentures, a Netherlands-based venture capital fund focused on investments in integrated photonics, announced on April 16 that its second funding round has increased its investment by €15 million (US$16 million). The new round brings the fund’s total investable euros to €75 million (US$80 million).
This new round comes eight months after the fund was established through an initial investment of €60 million led by wealthy Dutch photonic ecosystem hub PhotonDelta. PhotonVentures hopes to increase its total war chest to over €100 million by the time the fund closes at the end of this year. It says its goal is “critical applications such as data transmission, health diagnostics, and smart sensor systems.” It is also in line with major global trends such as AI, AR, and VR. ”
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The PhotonVentures Fund was established in August 2023 as a financing vehicle for its parent company, a venture capital firm also known as PhotonVentures. The company itself evolved from and is a partner of PhotonDelta. The fund has a stated objective of supporting seed and Series A funding rounds for “European deep tech companies with the potential to grow into international winners in their respective fields.”
Among the companies that PhotonVentures has funded is custom microsystems development company LioniX International. [Image: LioniX International]
In particular, PhotonVentures hopes that its financial support will allow it to create “the conditions for 20 deep tech frontrunners to grow and establish themselves as international leaders within the European ecosystem.” It says that there are. The company has already invested in several Dutch startups, including integrated sensor manufacturer MantiSpectra, AR/VR player Brilliance, integrated photonics foundry companies PHIX and SMART Photonics, and microsystems developer LioniX International.
strategic focus
PhotonVentures considers its focus on integrated photonics to be a key strategic aspect, especially in a country with significant connections to the global semiconductor ecosystem, particularly through the proliferation of Dutch photolithography equipment giant ASML. A press release announcing the new funding cited “strategic support from the Dutch National Growth Fund and the European Chip Act” for the integrated Dutch and European photonics ecosystem. PhotonVentures “addresses integrated photonic technologies and sustainable AI-driven trends” that the company claims will “drive significant economic growth and social progress.”
In a country with important connections to the global semiconductor ecosystem, PhotonVentures considers its focus on integrated photonics to be a key strategic aspect.
“Further developments in photonics are of vital importance for the future of the Dutch semiconductor ecosystem,” Mark Janssen, investment managing director of Brabant Development Agency (BOM), one of the participants in the new funding round, said in a press release. stated in the release. “It is no coincidence that photonics is one of the key technologies on his BOM. Funds like PhotonVentures are essential to scaling innovative companies in this space.”
In addition to BOM, PhotonVentures said its just-announced €15 million funding kick also included “individual and strategic investors” and received additional support from AustNL, TNO and the University of Twente. Stated.
