News: Optoelectronics
9 September 2025
Scintil raises $58m to scale integrated photonics for AI factories
Scintil Photonics of Grenoble, France (a fabless firm developing and commercializing silicon photonic integrated circuits with integrated lasers for AI data centers) has completed a $58m (€50m) Series B funding round led by Yotta Capital Partners and NGP Capital with strategic participation from NVIDIA. The round includes new participation from BNP Paribas Développement, alongside existing investors including Supernova Invest, Bpifrance Digital Venture, Innovacom, Bosch Ventures, and Applied Ventures ITIC Innovation Fund (AVITIC).
The funding enables Scintil to expand its hiring in France and internationally (including the USA), accelerate production, and deepen its international presence as it delivers what it says is the industry’s first single-chip dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) light engine, integrating multi-wavelength lasers with silicon photonics, aligned with next-generation co-packaged optics (CPO). Scintil’s solutions are purpose-built to meet the high-bandwidth, low-latency and high-density demands for next-generation AI infrastructure, delivering the scale, efficiency and performance required for future, powerful GPU clusters.
Picture: Scintil’s LEAF Light, the first single-chip DWDM-native light engine, delivering high-density, low-power optical connectivity for next-generation AI factories.
“This investment marks a pivotal moment for Scintil as we move to full-scale deployment,” says CEO Matt Crowley. “Our SHIP [Scintil Heterogeneous Integrated Photonics] technology enables integrated photonic solutions with the scalability, energy efficiency, and integration density required to power next-generation compute infrastructure. This efficiency not only reduces data-center operating costs but also contributes to lowering the carbon footprint of AI infrastructure. With LEAF Light entering high-volume production, we’re expanding from our base in Grenoble into the international markets, including the USA, to support the world’s most advanced AI factories,” he adds.
“We developed our LEAF Light integrated circuit in close collaboration with our customers,” says Scintil’s founder & chief technology officer Sylvie Menezo. “Used as an external laser source for co-packaged optics (CPO) transmissions, it is a key component for the next generation of AI data centers. Its uniqueness lies in a single-chip solution that monolithically integrates precisely spaced DFB [distributed feedback] lasers on silicon photonic circuits, produced through a robust commercial supply chain. Our SHIP technology provides a strong and disruptive foundation to expand our portfolio of integrated photonic circuit solutions for the coming decades,” she adds.
“Scintil exemplifies the kind of innovation leaders we look for, combining advanced manufacturing, deep-tech leadership, and meaningful impact on the energy demands of AI infrastructure,” comments Vincent Deltrieu, managing partner at Yotta Capital Partners. “Scintil’s integrated photonics platform is essential to scale the next generation of AI factories. We’re excited to support their global growth as they move to high-volume shipments,” he adds.
“Integrated photonics is becoming a foundation of all AI infrastructure, and Scintil is turning that future into reality,” comments Bo Ilsoe, managing partner at NGP Capital. “Their technology delivers the bandwidth density and energy efficiency AI factories require with global scalability,” he adds.
“As the number of XPUs and AI bandwidth grows, scale-up fabrics will need to transition away from copper to optical-based solutions,” notes Alan Weckel, co-founder & technology analyst at 650 Group. “AI data centers will move toward co-packaged optics and external DWDM light sources. Scale-up networking is an incremental opportunity for vendors, with the market set to exceed $25bn in 2029. By the end of the decade, the whole AI networking opportunity will approach $100bn per year. Scintil stands out for bringing a manufacturable, foundry-aligned platform into the mix. Reliability and quickly scaling to volume are the only way hyperscalers can scale to the AI demand they plan to deploy this decade,” he adds.
“DWDM co-packaged optics is a differentiator that supports connecting thousands of GPUs at the bandwidth density requirements of next-gen AI infrastructure,” notes Daryl Inniss, thought lead of Optical Components and Advanced Fiber at industry analyst firm Omdia. “Scintil’s single-chip DWDM laser source, based on a heterogeneous integrated photonics process, demonstrates how this can be delivered in a manufacturable and scalable platform. This capability is important as AI factories push toward larger clusters and higher throughput.”
Purpose-built for the optical backbone of AI
Scintil’s proprietary SHIP (Scintil Heterogeneous Integration Photonics) process technology enables the integration of multiple optical devices, including lasers, photodiodes and modulators, on a single chip. SHIP allows Scintil to replace dozens of traditionally separate parts with a single-chip solution that delivers previously unattainable performance, efficiency and integration density.
Scintil originates from micro/nanotechnology R&D center CEA-Leti, giving Scintil a head start in disruptive heterogeneous integration on silicon. Since its inception, Scintil has developed the SHIP platform on a commercial supplychain with mass-manufacturing capabilities.
The Series B funding supports the commercial ramp of LEAF Light, the industry’s first DWDM-native light engine, aligned with next-generation co-packaged optics (CPO). DWDM-native means that this single-chip device can output many precisely spaced and multiplexed wavelengths, dramatically increasing bandwidth and decreasing energy requirements. By lowering power per bit, LEAF Light contributes to reducing the carbon footprint of AI data centers.
Built on Scintil’s SHIP platform, LEAF Light enables low-power, high-density optical connectivity, delivering 6.4Tbps/mm edge bandwidth density today, at roughly one-sixth the power consumption of conventional pluggable solutions. It is designed for scale-up GPU clusters and emerging AI systems, with reference packaging and integration support to accelerate deployment.
Global expansion from innovation hub
The funding round enables Scintil to expand hiring in France and internationally (including the USA) from its strategic base in Grenoble, one of the world’s foremost hubs for photonics and semiconductor innovation. Located at the heart of Europe’s advanced semiconductor ecosystem, Scintil reckons that it benefits from its proximity to institutions such as CEA-Leti and leading global semiconductor companies operating in the area, providing access to a deep talent pool and a collaborative innovation environment.
As part of its growth strategy, Scintil is establishing a US-based presence to serve hyperscale and AI infrastructure partners more directly. The firm is hiring across engineering, operations and customer integration roles to support increasing product demand and enable high-volume delivery.
Scintil Photonics appoints Jim Theodoras as VP of product development
Scintil demonstrating LEAF Light DWDM remote light source at OFC
Scintil appoints Matt Crowley as CEO and establishes US subsidiary
