News: Optoelectronics
13 July 2023
SMART Photonics secures €100m in extra funding round
Independent pure-play indium phosphide (InP) photonic integrated circuit (PIC) foundry SMART Photonics of Eindhoven, The Netherlands, has secured an additional round of funding of €100m from a group of strategic industry and financial Dutch players.
Among the group of new lenders are strategic players from the semiconductor industry (ASML, NXP and VDL Groep) as well as financial institutions (ING, BOP Impact Ventures and Deep Tech Fund, which is part of Invest-NL and partly funded by the ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy). Previous investors, including Innovation Industries, BOM, PhotonDelta and KPN Ventures have joined in this funding round again. The government of the Netherlands will provide €60m public funding as part of the approved National Growth Fund project PhotonDelta as previously announced.
SMART Photonics will use the funds to extend its manufacturing capabilities and accelerate the development of its photonic integrated chip technology platforms and its process design kits (PDKs).
“With this round of funding, we receive strong support from the Dutch ecosystem including strategic lenders and financial institutions in our ambition to become the globally leading foundry for photonic integrated chips,” says CEO Johan Feenstra.
“Financial support from the three fellow-Brainport region companies gives SMART Photonics the best opportunity to take the essential next steps to further mature the organization, strengthen technical capabilities and extend their manufacturing base,” state ASML, NXP and VDL Groep jointly. “Our additional funding will help strengthen the Brainport and wider Dutch and European Photonics ecosystem. SMART Photonics becoming a strong and versatile foundry can greatly benefit the growing number of fabless photonic chip design companies in the Brainport region,” he adds.
“We believe in the Netherlands as a leading international hub for the development of the fast-growing integrated photonics industry,” says Micky Adriaansens, Netherlands’ Minister of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy. “That’s why we invest both through the National Growth Fund project PhotonDelta in the whole ecosystem and through our dedicated Deep Tech Fund with specific funding for start-ups and scale-ups who focus on innovative complex technology such as SMART Photonics. For the prosperity and economic growth of the future and to maintain our competitiveness, it is necessary that we develop innovative key technologies like integrated photonics within the European Union.”
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