Salience Labs raises $125 million in Series B funding to scale its all-optical switching technology for AI data centers. Led by Bullhound Capital, the round includes Intel Capital, AMD Ventures, SBI Group, Hudson River Trading and British Business Bank, alongside returning investors. The company has demonstrated a 64-port all-optical photonic switch and plans to use the funding for manufacturing, geographic expansion and research on higher-density switches.
PicoJool, a startup backed by former Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger, raises $27.5 million in a Series A led by Socratic Partners, with Hudson River Trading participating. The company develops VCSEL and MicroVCSEL optical chips and modules, including 100G and 200G products, to replace copper interconnects and increase bandwidth while reducing energy use in AI clusters. It plans to expand teams in the U.S. and Taiwan, qualify products with customers, and prepare its 200G VCSEL for mass production with WIN Semiconductors and other foundries.
