Optalysys Raises £23m To Advance Photonic Computing

Optalysys, a global designer and manufacturer of photonic computing technologies, has secured £23 million in a Series A extension round to accelerate the commercialization of its proprietary photonic chips and support expansion into the U.S. market. The round was led by Northern Gritstone, with participation from imec.xpand, Lingotto Horizon, and the UK government’s National Security Strategic Investment Fund (NSSIF).

As artificial intelligence and cloud workloads continue to scale, conventional electronic computing architectures are increasingly constrained by physical and energy limitations. Optalysys is addressing these challenges through a photonic computing approach that integrates data movement and processing on a single chip. By combining silicon photonics with advanced digital technologies, the company aims to deliver significantly higher computational performance while reducing the energy intensity associated with traditional electronic processing.

The company is developing a programmable, high-density photonic layer designed to support compute-intensive workloads, including generative AI and post-quantum algorithms, positioning the technology as a foundation for next-generation cloud infrastructure. A key application area is fully homomorphic encryption (FHE), which enables data to be processed while remaining encrypted—an increasingly important capability for secure cloud and enterprise computing environments.

Early implementations of Optalysys’ FHE technology are already in use within its LightLocker™ Node servers, launched last year and described as the world’s first dedicated hardware solution designed for encrypted blockchain applications.

“We are at a defining moment in the evolution of computing. Photonic computing opens up fundamentally new capabilities, allowing data to be moved and processed with far greater speed and efficiency. This investment validates both the scale of the opportunity ahead and our ability to execute against it. It allows us to expand into new markets and take an important step towards making photonic computing a mainstream part of cloud infrastructure,” said Dr Nick New, CEO and Co-Founder of Optalysys.

Robert Todd, CTO and Co-Founder of Optalysys, said: “Recent acquisitions in the semiconductor industry have highlighted the role that photonics can play in addressing the limits of electronic computing, particularly in processing capability and power consumption, resulting from the demands of training and running even larger AI models. Optalysys’ approach uniquely combines data movement and compute within the same package. Expanding to the US is an exciting and natural next step for us, so that we can tap into its strong photonics ecosystem and the immense talent located in Silicon Valley.”

Duncan Johnson, CEO of Northern Gritstone, said: “Optalysys is scaling towards global success. The company is building technology for the next generation of computing and has the team, technology and commercial traction that we, as investors, want. We’re excited to support the team as they continue to commercialise their technology and deliver real-world impact across multiple industries.”

About Optalysys

Founded in Leeds, UK, in 2013 by Dr. Nick New and Robert Todd, Optalysys develops photonic computing technologies that integrate data movement and processing on a single chip. By combining silicon photonics with advanced digital technologies, the company is targeting high-performance, energy-efficient computing architectures for next-generation cloud infrastructure. Optalysys is also the developer of LightLocker™ Node, a dedicated hardware platform designed for encrypted blockchain applications. For more information, please click here.

About Northern Gritstone

Northern Gritstone is a venture capital firm focused on investing in science and technology startups and university spinouts in the North of England. Founded in 2021, the firm partners with the Universities of Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, and Sheffield to support the commercialization of research-led innovation. Northern Gritstone has backed more than 40 companies, with over £380 million invested alongside co-investors.  To learn more, please click here.

Source/Photo Credit: Optalysys

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