Lightmatter
Founded Year
2017Stage
Series D | AliveTotal Raised
$822.18MValuation
$0000Last Raised
$400M | 9 mos agoMosaic Score The Mosaic Score is an algorithm that measures the overall financial health and market potential of private companies.
+101 points in the past 30 days
About Lightmatter
Lightmatter works in silicon photonics within the computing and semiconductor industries. It develops photonic computing solutions, aims to support artificial intelligence infrastructure, and promotes industry collaboration through standardization efforts. The company's products serve to improve digital data processing and interconnectivity in artificial intelligence (AI) applications. It was founded in 2017 and is based in Mountain View, California.
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Lightmatter's Products & Differentiators
Envise
General-purpose AI inference acceleration. Combines photonics and electronics in a single, compact package.
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Research containing Lightmatter
Get data-driven expert analysis from the CB Insights Intelligence Unit.
CB Insights Intelligence Analysts have mentioned Lightmatter in 6 CB Insights research briefs, most recently on Feb 4, 2025.
Expert Collections containing Lightmatter
Expert Collections are analyst-curated lists that highlight the companies you need to know in the most important technology spaces.
Lightmatter is included in 6 Expert Collections, including Unicorns- Billion Dollar Startups.
Unicorns- Billion Dollar Startups
1,276 items
Game Changers 2018
36 items
Our selected startups are high-momentum companies pioneering technology with the potential to transform society and economies for the better.
AI 100 (All Winners 2018-2025)
400 items
The winners of the 4th annual CB Insights AI 100.
Semiconductors, Chips, and Advanced Electronics
7,380 items
Companies in the semiconductors & HPC space, including integrated device manufacturers (IDMs), fabless firms, semiconductor production equipment manufacturers, electronic design automation (EDA), advanced semiconductor material companies, and more
AI 100 (2024)
100 items
Artificial Intelligence
10,049 items
Lightmatter Patents
Lightmatter has filed 103 patents.
The 3 most popular patent topics include:
- artificial neural networks
- photonics
- machine learning
Application Date | Grant Date | Title | Related Topics | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
2/14/2024 | 3/4/2025 | Photonics, Optical devices, Fiber optics, Artificial neural networks, Fiber-optic communications | Grant |
Application Date | 2/14/2024 |
|---|---|
Grant Date | 3/4/2025 |
Title | |
Related Topics | Photonics, Optical devices, Fiber optics, Artificial neural networks, Fiber-optic communications |
Status | Grant |
Latest Lightmatter News
Jul 6, 2025
Depositphotos Utrka za silicijsku fotoniku sve se više zahuktava, a kineski istraživači razvijaju prve čipove temeljene na svjetlosti. Istraživači sa Sveučilišta Fudan razvili su integrirani silicijski fotonički multiplekserski čip za višeredne modove, jednostavnije rečeno, multiplekser koji prenosi upute putem svjetlosti umjesto električne struje. To je sklop koji može primiti više ulaznih signala i proslijediti ih kroz jedan izlaz, koristeći se, primjerice, za odabir podataka iz više memorijskih čipova. Testiranja provedena na Sveučilištu Fudan pokazala su da njihov fotonički multiplekser podržava propusnost od 38 Tb/s, što znači da može prenijeti 4,75 bilijuna parametara velikih jezičnih modela (LLM) u sekundi. Ovo je važno jer se podaci i upute prenose svjetlosnim signalima, a ne elektronima, čime ovaj čip postaje najnoviji član mlade generacije čipova temeljenih na fotonici. Osim što koristi lasere za prijenos podataka, jedan od ključnih iskoraka ovog multipleksera je sposobnost povezivanja fotoničkog i elektroničkog jezika. Budući da komunikacija s memorijom obično ovisi o CMOS tehnologiji, novi čip uspješno integrira svjetlosni prijenos podataka s CMOS-om uz vrlo malu latenciju. Ako je silicijski fotonički multiplekser stvaran, onda predstavlja rijedak primjer integriranog kruga (IC) temeljenog na fotonici u današnje vrijeme—posebno ako dolazi iz Kine. Fotonika i korištenje svjetlosti za prijenos podataka imaju snažnu potražnju u enterprise sektoru, budući da nude znatno veće brzine prijenosa i manju potrošnju energije u odnosu na klasične elektroničke sustave, što bi moglo dovesti do velikog pomaka u dizajnu računalnih sustava. Već danas se u najnaprednijim enterprise primjenama koriste fotonički mrežni preklopnici koji omogućuju prijenos podataka unutar AI klastera brzinama do 400 Tb/s, poput onih koje proizvodi Nvidia. Rastu i start-up tvrtke koje razvijaju ovu tehnologiju—primjerice, Lightmatter je nedavno predstavio svoju platformu za fotoničke međupoveze, a tvrtku Enosemi je nedavno preuzeo AMD. Kina možda već danas ima rane prototipove fotoničkih čipova, možda i ne, ali prijetnja da bi mogla prestići SAD u razvoju ove tehnologije dugoročno je vrlo realna. Kineske istraživačke institucije trenutno proizvode više nego dvostruko više znanstvenih radova na temu tehnologija nakon Mooreovog zakona u odnosu na SAD, a ujedno čine i većinu najcitiranijih istraživanja, s posebnim fokusom na fotoniku. Kina je, kako se često potiho šapuće u američkim krugovima, spremna promijeniti traku i prestići SAD u čipovskim tehnologijama unutar deset godina.
Lightmatter Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
When was Lightmatter founded?
Lightmatter was founded in 2017.
Where is Lightmatter's headquarters?
Lightmatter's headquarters is located at 800 West El Camino Real, Mountain View.
What is Lightmatter's latest funding round?
Lightmatter's latest funding round is Series D.
How much did Lightmatter raise?
Lightmatter raised a total of $822.18M.
Who are the investors of Lightmatter?
Investors of Lightmatter include Google Ventures, Fidelity Investments, T. Rowe Price, Viking Global Investors, Bossa Invest and 11 more.
Who are Lightmatter's competitors?
Competitors of Lightmatter include Rain AI, Xanadu, Lumai, Celestial AI, Salience Labs and 7 more.
What products does Lightmatter offer?
Lightmatter's products include Envise and 2 more.
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Compare Lightmatter to Competitors
Polaris Electro-Optics focuses on integrated photonics for the communications and computation sectors. The company provides photonics products for data transmission in applications including data centers, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, high-performance computing, and quantum computing. It was founded in 2021 and is based in Broomfield, Colorado.
Akhetonics focuses on the development of all-optical general-purpose processors for computing and artificial intelligence in the technology sector. Its main offerings include a cross-domain processing unit that operates entirely in the optical domain, providing low power and fast computing capabilities without the need for electronic signal conversion. It was founded in 2021 and is based in Berlin, Germany.
Ayar Labs focuses on optical Input/Output solutions within the technology sector. The company offers products that facilitate data movement and improve compute efficiency for artificial intelligence (AI) systems, while also addressing costs, latency, and power consumption. Ayar Labs primarily serves the AI infrastructure industry and provides solutions for AI training and inference processes. Ayar Labs was formerly known as OptiBit. It was founded in 2015 and is based in San Jose, California.
Anari is a company that develops computation platforms within the AI hardware industry. They focus on improving vector search performance through cloud and hardware technology, providing a platform for data-heavy applications. Their products, including the vector acceleration engine, use FPGA technology on AWS and Azure to offer data processing solutions. It was founded in 2020 and is based in San Francisco, California.
Celestial AI focuses on artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure solutions within the technology sector. The company has developed a platform called Photonic Fabric, which aims to improve optical interconnects for AI computing scaling and system performance. Celestial AI's innovations are intended for the AI computing and networking fields, responding to the needs for bandwidth and latency in AI training and inferencing. Celestial AI was formerly known as Inorganic Intelligence. It was founded in 2020 and is based in Santa Clara, California.
Cerebras focuses on artificial intelligence (AI) acceleration through its development of wafer-scale processors and supercomputers for different sectors. The company provides computing solutions that support deep learning, natural language processing, and other AI workloads. Cerebras serves industries including healthcare, scientific computing, and financial services with its AI supercomputers and model training services. It was founded in 2016 and is based in Sunnyvale, California.
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