About
Lightmatter is a Boston-based photonic supercomputer company founded in 2017 by CEO Nick Harris, Chief Scientist Darius Bunandar, and COO Thomas Graham. In October 2024 it raised a 400 million dollar Series D at a 4.4 billion dollar valuation, bringing total capital to 850 million dollars. The round was led by T. Rowe Price Associates, with participation from Fidelity Management and Research Company and GV (Google Ventures). Lightmatter's Passage technology addresses AI infrastructure bottlenecks by using 3D-stacked photonics chips to move data, increasing AI cluster bandwidth and performance while reducing power consumption. The company has built its photonic interconnect layer since 2018. CEO Nick Harris has indicated the Series D is likely the last private funding round before a potential IPO. Lightmatter plans to ready Passage for mass deployment in partner data centers, enabling the scaling that sustained AI innovation requires. Update 2026-01-27: Lightmatter announced Very Large Scale Photonics a foundational advancement in laser architecture for the Guide light engine. Source: https://quantumzeitgeist.com/lightmatter-ai-lasers-vlsp-architecture/ Update 2025-08-19: Lightmatter demonstrated a 16-wavelength bidirectional optical link on standard single-mode fiber achieving 800 Gbps bandwidth. Source: https://quantumzeitgeist.com/lightmatter-demonstrates-16-wavelength-optical-link-on-single-fiber/
Quantum Specifications
| Quantum Focus | hardware |
Backed By
Frequently Asked Questions
Related News
Lightmatter & GUC Partner to Redefine AI Scalability with CPO Solutions
Lightmatter Integrates Synopsys IP for High-Performance 3D Photonic AI Engines
