OpenLight Photonics

OpenLight Photonics is a silicon photonics company that describes itself as the world leader in custom Photonic Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (PASIC) design and manufacture. Its core proposition is an open, heterogeneously integrated silicon photonics platform in which passive and active optical elements are built into the same silicon platform, allowing customers to design, have designed, or have manufactured their own PASICs. The company frames this as helping photonics scale like semiconductors, combining heterogeneous integration with a foundry-based ecosystem. OpenLight offers three prime services. Design Enablement lets customers design their own PASIC using the company's Process Design Kit (PDK). Inhouse Design provides custom PASIC design and layout services from OpenLight's own engineers. Production manufactures the PASIC and guarantees its production and operation, giving customers confidence to design their own devices. The company says its platform delivers next-level improvements in performance and other attributes by integrating all passive and active optical elements on a single chip, simplifying design and manufacturing. On the product side, OpenLight highlights 3.2T and 1.6T silicon photonics solutions. Its published products include a 1.6T DR8 PIC, a 1.6T DR8 test vehicle (OLP-EC23082), and a 400G FR4 Evaluation Kit (EVK). The company also promotes 3.2T DR8 PIC technology enabled by 448G EAM performance and 400G-per-lane modulators, aimed at terabit-class optics. Target applications include AI and hyperscale data centers, high-speed optical communications, advanced sensing, and next-generation photonic integration. The company's history page traces its technology lineage to 2008, when the underlying development began. It was acquired by Juniper Networks in 2016 and partnered with Tower Semiconductor as a foundry partner in 2019. In 2021 the world's first open-market silicon photonics platform was announced. OpenLight was formed in April 2022 with investments from Synopsys and Juniper Networks, and by November 2022 it was production ready with first customer tapeouts. In August 2025 it raised a $34M Series A to scale next-generation integrated photonics for AI data centers, followed by first volume production orders in March 2026 and a $50M Series A-1 close in April 2026. OpenLight is a private, venture-backed company. Its careers page notes a highly technical team, with more than 50% of staff holding PhDs and more than 34% women employees, working in a hybrid environment. The company is hiring across technology, operations and business growth as it addresses demand driven by AI and cloud infrastructure.

OpenLight's own history page traces the technology's development back to 2008, when the underlying work began. In 2016 the technology was acquired by Juniper Networks. In 2019 it partnered with Tower Semiconductor as a foundry partner, an arrangement that underpins the foundry-based ecosystem model OpenLight promotes today. In 2021 the world's first open-market silicon photonics platform was announced. OpenLight was then formed in April 2022 with investments from Synopsys and Juniper Networks, establishing it as an independent company commercializing the open silicon photonics platform. By November 2022 the company was production ready with its first customer tapeouts. The company subsequently focused on scaling its platform for AI and cloud infrastructure demand. In August 2025 it raised a $34M Series A to scale next-generation, integrated photonics for AI data centers. In March 2026 it received its first volume production orders, and in April 2026 it closed a Series A-1 round of $50M to accelerate the global deployment of next-generation photonics. Throughout, OpenLight has positioned its heterogeneously integrated platform as a way to integrate all passive and active optical elements on a single chip, simplifying design and manufacturing. Its service model spans design enablement through a PDK, inhouse custom design, and guaranteed production, with products spanning 1.6T and 3.2T silicon photonics solutions for datacom, telecom, AI infrastructure and sensing.

• 2026

  First volume production orders

• 2026

  Closed Series A-1 for $50M

• 2025

  Raised $34M Series A to scale next-generation, integrated photonics for AI Data Centers

• 2022

  OpenLight was formed with investments from Synopsys and Juniper Networks

• 2022

  Production ready with first customer tapeouts

• 2021

  World's first, open market, silicon photonics platform announced

• 2019

  Partnered with Tower Semiconductor as a foundry partner

• 2016

  Acquired by Juniper Networks

• 2008

  Founded (development history begins)

Open, heterogeneously integrated silicon photonics platform enabling customers to design and manufacture custom PASICs, positioned as helping photonics scale like semiconductors.

• 1.6T DR8 PIC

• OpenLight Test Vehicle: OLP-EC23082 1.6T DR8

• OpenLight Evaluation Kit (EVK): 400G FR4

• 3.2T DR8 PIC

1. 1Modular. Scalable. Silicon Photonics.… | OpenLight Photonicsopenlightphotonics.com
2. 2Our history | OpenLight Photonicsopenlightphotonics.com
3. 3Careers | OpenLight Photonicsopenlightphotonics.com
4. 4Silicon photonics solutions | OpenLight Photonicsopenlightphotonics.com
5. 5OpenLight Photonicswikidata.org