News: Optoelectronics
29 September 2025
Photon IP rebrands as Photon Bridge as it commercializes cantilever waveguide coupling technology
Photonic integration firm PHOTON IP of Eindhoven, The Netherlands has announced its new brand identity as Photon Bridge, and appointed Paul Marchal as its new chief executive officer.
The firm says that its new name is because its proprietary cantilever waveguide coupling technology is all about building bridges — between photonic materials (unifying III–V speed with the scalability of silicon) and between the integrated photonics used today and those powering tomorrow’s breakthroughs. The rebrand reflects the mission to “connect innovation with scale, delivering solutions [optical engines] that advance the next generation of AI and telecom systems”.
The announcement follows the firm’s €4.75m seed funding round, backed by Innovation Industries, Faber, BOM, and PhotonDelta. The new brand reflects its mission to bridge cutting-edge semiconductor technologies with the demands of a rapidly scaling optical market.
“Photon Bridge is about unifying the best of both worlds: the speed of III–V and the scale of silicon,” says CEO Paul Marchal. “We are entering an era where AI and high-performance telecom demand a new level of optical integration, and our platform is uniquely positioned to deliver.”
Before joining Photon Bridge, Marchal was co-founder & CEO of Morrow, where he raised over €35m and brought smart glasses based on tunable lens technology to market. Earlier, at imec, he co-developed through-silicon via (TSV) technology and co-introduced via-middle integration (now standard in advanced memory and GPU systems), while also contributing to the early development of imec’s silicon photonics platform.
“I’m excited to continue as CTO and to focus fully on scaling our technology,” says Photon Bridge co-founder Rui Santos. “With Paul leading the company and a strong team in place, we can accelerate innovation and bring our vision for integrated photonics to market.”
Photon Bridge is exhibiting in booth C4119 at the European Conference on Optical Communication (ECOC 2025) in Copenhagen, Denmark (28 September–2 October), with a dedicated meeting and demo space at MR4 to connect with partners, customers, and industry leaders.
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