Rockley Photonics snags $52 million in first close of Series E funding round
Silicon photonics specialists Rockley Photonics says it attracted $52 million in the first closure of its Series E funding round. Investors included an unidentified “key strategic partner,” Morningside Technology Ventures, and “numerous private investors.” Rockley has raised $165 million to date.
Rockley, founded by CEO Andrew Rickman, is leveraging silicon photonics to address requirements in a variety of applications, including data centers, 5G, AI, autonomy, machine vision, and healthcare (see “Rockley Photonics finishes silicon photonics platform, launches chipset shipments”). The company has partnered with Hengtong Optic-Electric on optical transceiver design (see “Rockley Photonics, Hengtong Optic-Electric form joint venture for optical transceiver module manufacturing”) but has its eyes on use cases outside of optical communications.
“With this latest round of investment, Rockley is strengthening its position as a leading integrated silicon photonics solutions provider. It will support the full execution of our business plan and continued growth as we make significant strides in co-packaging for optoASICs and data center connectivity, LiDAR, and consumer electronic applications,” explained Mahesh Karanth, Rockley’s chief financial officer.
“Rockley is uniquely positioned having developed a proprietary photonics platform and manufacturing technologies, underpinned by a depth of expertise that goes back some 30 years,” added Rickman. “We are currently using our platform to address applications in the data center and high-performance computing, medical and life sciences, and 3D imaging/sensing verticals with the potential for additional verticals in the future.”
For related articles, visit the Business Topic Center.
For more information on optical modules and suppliers, visit the Lightwave Buyer’s Guide.
Stephen Hardy | Editorial Director and Associate Publisher, Lightwave
Stephen Hardy is editorial director and associate publisher of Lightwave and Broadband Technology Report, part of the Lighting & Technology Group at Endeavor Business Media. Stephen is responsible for establishing and executing editorial strategy across the both brands’ websites, email newsletters, events, and other information products. He has covered the fiber-optics space for more than 20 years, and communications and technology for more than 35 years. During his tenure, Lightwave has received awards from Folio: and the American Society of Business Press Editors (ASBPE) for editorial excellence. Prior to joining Lightwave in 1997, Stephen worked for Telecommunications magazine and the Journal of Electronic Defense.
Stephen has moderated panels at numerous events, including the Optica Executive Forum, ECOC, and SCTE Cable-Tec Expo. He also is program director for the Lightwave Innovation Reviews and the Diamond Technology Reviews.
He has written numerous articles in all aspects of optical communications and fiber-optic networks, including fiber to the home (FTTH), PON, optical components, DWDM, fiber cables, packet optical transport, optical transceivers, lasers, fiber optic testing, and more.
You can connect with Stephen on LinkedIn as well as Twitter.