News: Optoelectronics
10 March 2026
Spain’s VLC Photonics and Hitachi High-Tech America announce strategic collaboration in North America
Fabless photonic integrated circuit (PIC) design, prototyping, testing and packaging house VLC Photonics S.L. of Valencia, Spain (which has experience with various material platforms including silicon photonics, indium phosphide, silicon nitride, PLC and polymer) has announced a strategic collaboration in North America with Hitachi High-Tech America Inc (HTA), which sells and services semiconductor manufacturing equipment, analytical instrumentation, scientific instruments, and bio-related products as well as industrial equipment, electronic devices, and electronic and industrial materials.
HTA is a privately owned global affiliate company that operates within Japan’s Hitachi Group. Founded in 2011, VLC Photonics has been part of the Hitachi High-Tech Group since 2020, expanding its capabilities into full PIC development and industrial production. VLC Photonics collaborates with over 20 foundries, offering customized solutions for applications in telecoms, sensing, quantum optics, LiDAR, and biophotonics.
VLC Photonics is reinforcing its presence in the region through the transfer of Alberto Hinojosa to HTA’s office in Santa Clara, California, where he will serve as HTA’s US-based business development manager.
VLC Photonics says that, as it continues to support the global adoption of integrated photonics, it recognizes North America as a critical region for growth, innovation and customer proximity. With the USA at the center of the world’s fastest-growing market for advanced photonic solutions, establishing a dedicated US-based business developer is crucial in driving market growth, strengthening customer collaboration, and ensuring that VLC Photonics remains at the forefront of the photonics innovation ecosystem, the firm reckons.
“This move represents more than just a geographic relocation,” says VLC Photonics’ CEO Iñigo Artundo. “It is a bridge between European expertise and North American innovation, strengthening our shared mission to advance photonics technologies for datacom, telecom, quantum, AI and sensing applications,” he adds.
“This strategic move is further reinforced by VLC Photonics’ integration into the Hitachi High-Tech Group, a partnership that enhances both companies’ ability to scale photonic innovation globally,” says Bryan Kruuk, director of sales for the Innovative Photonics Solutions group at HTA. As Hitachi High-Tech Corp (HHT) and its group companies expand their offerings across North America, VLC Photonics’ design and testing expertise provides a technological foundation for joint growth. Together, VLC Photonics and HTA reckon that they are uniquely positioned to support customers with advanced photonic integrated circuit services, leveraging HHT’s global commercial reach and VLC Photonics’ engineering excellence to accelerate innovation and address evolving industry needs.
