Ayar Labs Secures $155 Million in Series D Funding to Revolutionize AI Infrastructure with Optical Interconnects

Ayar Labs, a leading developer of optical interconnect solutions, has successfully completed a $155 million Series D funding round, significantly boosting its valuation to over $1 billion. This latest round of financing was led by Advent Global Opportunities and Light Street Capital, with participation from both new and existing investors, including AMD Ventures, Intel Capital, NVIDIA, 3M Ventures, and Autopilot, among others.

The funding will be utilized to support the high-volume production of Ayar Labs’ in-package optical interconnects, which are designed to address the growing need for scalable and cost-effective artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure. The company’s innovative optical I/O technology aims to break down the AI bottleneck of data movement, offering a standards-based, commercial-ready solution optimized for AI training and inference.

Ayar Labs’ approach to chip performance, known as “Photons Over Electrons,” leverages light (photons) instead of electricity (electrons) for data transfer, providing a 1000x improvement in interconnect bandwidth density at one-tenth the power. This technology is crucial for high-performance computing (HPC) and AI applications, which require efficient and powerful chip performance.

The company’s products include high-speed, high-density, low-power optical interconnect “chiplets” and lasers, which replace traditional electrical I/O, offering improved performance and efficiency. One of Ayar Labs’ notable products is an optically enabled Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), co-developed with Intel, which was featured at a White House Demo Day, demonstrating its potential for high-speed data transfer.

Jordan Katz, partner at Advent Global Opportunities, who is joining Ayar Labs’ board of directors, expressed confidence in the company’s technology, stating, “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.”

Shef Osborn, partner at Light Street Capital, emphasized the importance of this funding, saying, “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.”

Srini Ananth, managing director at Intel Capital, highlighted Intel’s long-standing support for pioneering new interconnect technologies, stating, “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.”

This latest funding round brings Ayar Labs’ total funding to $370 million, underscoring the company’s commitment to addressing the urgent need for scalable, cost-effective AI infrastructure. With this significant investment, Ayar Labs is poised to scale its optical I/O technology, which is claimed to be the industry’s first commercially viable optical interconnect solution backed by a robust manufacturing ecosystem.

Ayar Labs plans to increase hiring next year to support its growing operations and meet the increasing demand for its optical I/O solutions. The company’s innovative technology and strategic partnerships position it as a leader in the optical interconnect solutions market, ready to revolutionize the future of AI infrastructure.

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