Ayar Labs has raised $150M from a group of backers that reads like a semiconductor who’s who, bringing its 2026 primary capital to $650M.
Wiwynn, Alchip, AMD, Intel, MediaTek and Nvidia all participated. The San Jose company makes co-packaged optics, which replace copper links between accelerators and switches with light to cut power use and raise bandwidth.
Its TeraPHY optical engine is designed to slot into existing accelerator and switch designs through partner manufacturing and packaging flows. As data centers strain under AI workloads, moving data between chips has become nearly as expensive as computing on it.
Chief executive Mark Wade said the money supports a shift to high-volume manufacturing, covering product development, validation and expansion of the supplier ecosystem. Ayar Labs will also open a design center in Bengaluru.
Strategic investment from Nvidia, AMD, Intel and MediaTek suggests incumbents view optical interconnect as unavoidable rather than optional. Startups that solve the power problem on the wire may capture value no matter which accelerator wins, which is why so many rivals are content to fund one.
