AAlcyon Photonics
Alcyon Photonics is a Madrid-based deeptech startup that designs fabrication-ready, foundry-validated photonic integrated circuit (PIC) IP building blocks, licensing photonic design libraries and offering design/simulation/layout services to accelerate industrial adoption of integrated photonics. Founded in 2018 as a CSIC (Spanish National Research Council) spin-off built on subwavelength grating (SWG) technology, it serves datacom, telecom, sensing, space/defense, quantum, and healthcare applications, and partners with foundries including Tower Semiconductor and GlobalFoundries.
SectorsPhotonics, Semiconductors, Deeptech, Integrated Circuit IP
Start-up MapDeeptech & Hardware › Advanced materials, photonics & sensors
Founders
A
Aitor Villafranca Velasco
Founder
Global models 5
PPsiQuantum
United States · www.psiquantum.com ↗
Builds fault-tolerant quantum computers on a silicon photonics fabrication platform, the same underlying photonic-IC manufacturing approach Alcyon licenses IP for.
$2.32BComparable
AAyar Labs
United States · ayarlabs.com ↗
Designs photonic IP (optical I/O chiplets) for co-packaging into chips, closely matching Alcyon's model of licensing photonic integrated circuit building blocks.
$872MComparable
LLightmatter
United States · lightmatter.co ↗
Photonic chip design company building silicon photonics-based compute and interconnect products, same core photonic-IC design/IP model as Alcyon.
$850MComparable
CCelestial AI
United States · www.celestial.ai ↗
Develops a photonic interconnect fabric using integrated photonic IP for data center chips, paralleling Alcyon's photonic IC IP licensing approach.
$515MComparable
R
Ranovus
Canada · ranovus.com ↗
Designs photonic integrated circuits and IP for optical interconnects, a direct model match to Alcyon's PIC IP business at a smaller scale.
$71.3MComparable
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Notes: Most funded first
Investors 3
Open as list →
Funding rounds 1
| Date | Round | Amount | Lead |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-02-18 | Seed (estimated) | €1.5M |
Lead not disclosed
+3 more
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News 6
Open as list →| Published | Article |
|---|---|
| 2026-04-16 |
Sofics and Alcyon Photonics Partner to Support Next-Generation Photonic Systems ↗
Optica
2026-04-16 |
| 2025-10-24 |
Alcyon Photonics: Making Photonic Design as Scalable and Reliable as Electronics ↗
TechTour
2025-10-24 |
| 2025-06-26 |
Alcyon Photonics: integrating light to accelerate the future ↗
AESEMI
2025-06-26 |
| 2025-02-18 |
Alcyon Photonics cierra una ronda de €1,5M cubierta por CDTI Innovación, BeAble y EIC Fund ↗
Webcapitalriesgo
2025-02-18 |
| 2024-10-10 |
Alcyon Photonics recognized as one of the 101 most innovative and impactful companies in Spain by ENISA and the ADR Forum ↗
Instituto de Óptica (CSIC)
2024-10-10 |
| 2020-11-05 |
Alcyon Photonics facilita la adopción de circuitos fotónicos integrados ↗
SECPHO
2020-11-05 |