Ranovus receives second investment from Canada's Strategic Innovation Fund
The Government of Canada, via the Honorable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, has announced a CAN$36 million ($26.6 million) award from its Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF) to optical interconnect technology developer Ranovus Inc. The money is part of CAN$100 million ($73.9 million) Ranovus plans to spend to scale its ODIN AI interconnect platform.
The expansion initiative is expected to result in the development of 40 new patents as well as increase the company’s headcount to 200 full-time employees. Ranovus also is expected to provide opportunities to 150 Canadian co-op students.
The Canadian government allocated CAN$250 million to SIF in the 2020 Fall Economic Statement to help enable Canadian companies with strong IP ride out the pandemic and strengthen their positions within the world economy. In February 2022, the government launched the Semiconductor Challenge Callout, which earmarked CAN$150 million ($110.9 million) from SIF to incentivize the development and manufacturing of semiconductors in Canada.
"Semiconductors are part of our everyday life. They are in our phones, our cars, and our appliances,” commented Minister Champagne. “Through this investment, we are supporting Canadian innovators, helping creating good jobs and IP, and developing Canada's semiconductor industry to build a more resilient economy. Canada will continue to play a leading role in the rapidly growing semiconductor industry, helping to strengthen and secure the North American supply chain."
Second SIF investment
This is the second investment SIF has placed in Ranovus, following CAN$20 million ($14.8 million) in funding granted in 2018. At the time, Ranovus was transitioning from supplying optical engines based on its multi-wavelength quantum dot laser (QDL) and silicon photonics ring resonator modulator technologies for optical transceivers (see, for example “Ranovus unveils optical engine, 200-Gbps PAM4 optical transceiver” and "Ranovus direct detect on-board modules, CFP2 optical transceivers reach general availability") to development of smaller chiplets for applications such as co-packaged optics. The company released its analog-drive ODIN optical engines in 2022, partnering with companies such as Xilinx/AMD to support AI applications (see “Ranovus, AMD to demo Xilinx Versal ACAP with CPO”).
“ODIN consumes 75% less power, is 80% smaller than its closest rival, and is scaling into production in the next 9 months with Tier 1 U.S. customers,” stated Hamid Arabzadeh, chairman and CEO of Ranovus. “We are investing $100 million to further scale our next-generation AI interconnect platform and are delighted by the continued support of the Strategic Innovation Fund to help keep Canada at the leading edge of the next generation of AI native infrastructure."
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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.
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