News: Optoelectronics
12 March 2025
Celestial AI raises $250m in Series C1 funding round
Celestial AI of Santa Clara, CA, USA, creator of the Photonic Fabric optical interconnect technology platform for AI computing systems, has raised $250m in its Series C1 funding round led by Fidelity Management & Research Company, bringing the total capital raised to date to more than $515m. New investors also include funds and accounts managed by BlackRock, Maverick Silicon, Tiger Global Management and Lip-Bu Tan, as well as participation from existing investors including AMD Ventures, Koch Disruptive Technologies (KDT), Temasek, Temasek’s subsidiary Xora Innovation, Porsche Automobil Holding SE and The Engine Ventures.
“With the emergence of complex reasoning models and agentic AI, the requirements on AI infrastructure are compounding,” notes CEO David Lazovsky. “Cluster sizes must scale from a few AI processors in a server to tens of processors in a single rack and thousands of processors across multiple racks, all while relying on high-bandwidth, low-latency network connectivity to handle massive data transfers between processors. Celestial AI’s Photonic Fabric is the only technology platform capable of meeting these critical demands while setting new standards for bandwidth, latency, energy efficiency and total cost of ownership,” he claims.
To address the rapidly changing AI landscape, Celestial AI’s Photonic Fabric technology platform allows AI compute to be networked seamlessly, from within processor packages to servers across multiple racks. Celestial AI offers a full suite of products that include connectivity, switching and packaging solutions which serve as the foundation for optical scale-up networks for accelerated computing.
“Amid the explosive growth of artificial intelligence, Celestial AI is uniquely positioned to meet the soaring demands of data-center infrastructure with its disruptive Photonic Fabric technology,” reckons Tony Kim, head of Fundamental Equities Technology Group at BlackRock.
“By providing terabytes of low-latency bandwidth and in-network computing, as well as in-network high-speed, high-capacity memory, Photonic Fabric enables the next generation of AI infrastructure, drawing upon the company’s rich IP in optical interconnect within chip, within package and between package-to-package,” comments Andrew Homan, managing partner at Maverick Silicon.
Celestial AI notes that its Photonic Fabric technology is fully compatible with industry-standard manufacturing and 2.5D packaging processes. With deep engagements with multiple hyperscalers, AI processor, custom silicon and packaging partners, this funding will enable the company to expand and qualify its volume manufacturing supply chain to serve customer demand, it adds.
“Celestial AI’s Photonic Fabric is fundamentally transforming AI computing, networking and memory solutions by addressing critical infrastructure challenges with unmatched performance and energy efficiency,” comments Diane Bryant, independent director at Celestial AI and Broadcom Inc.
Celestial AI appoints Lip-Bu Tan to board
Celestial AI wins 2024 Global Semiconductor Alliance ‘Start-Up to Watch’ award
Celestial AI acquires silicon photonics patent portfolio from Rockley
