KD

kdpof.com ↗ ·Madrid ·Series A

KD (formerly KDPOF, legal entity Knowledge Development for POF, S.L.) is a fabless semiconductor company in Tres Cantos, Madrid that designs ICs for multi-gigabit optical networking over plastic and glass optical fiber in harsh environments, targeting automotive, industrial and consumer connectivity. Founded in 2010, it is a venture-backed deeptech (roughly Series C, ~$19M raised) and a main contributor to the IEEE 802.3cz / 802.3bv automotive optical Ethernet standards; its CEO Carlos Pardo also chairs Spain's semiconductor industry association AESEMI. The company rebranded from KDPOF to KD in 2024-2025 and received ~€28M of EU IPCEI microelectronics support to build a packaging and test plant in Spain.

Founded

2010

Founders

Total funds raised

—

SectorsSemiconductors, Photonics & Optical Networking, Automotive Tech, Deeptech & Hardware, Industrial IoT Start-up MapDeeptech & Hardware › Semiconductors, compute & AI infrastructure

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Founders

Carlos Pardo

Co-Founder, President & CEO

Also at KDROC →

Rubén Pérez-Aranda Alonso

Co-Founder & former CTO

Also at KDROC →

Global models 5

Celestial AI

United States · www.celestial.ai ↗

Fabless company designing optical interconnect chips and IP that move data over light, though aimed at AI datacenters rather than automotive links.

$590MComparable

Ayar Labs

United States · ayarlabs.com ↗

Fabless designer of optical I/O chiplets that sells high-bandwidth optical connectivity silicon to system makers, the same chip-for-optical-links model.

$370MComparable

Kandou

Switzerland · www.kandou.com ↗

Fabless designer of high-speed wired connectivity ICs (retimers, SerDes) sold to OEMs and tier suppliers, including automotive, with a standards-driven approach.

$200MComparable

Valens Semiconductor

Israel · www.valens.com ↗

Fabless maker of multi-gigabit in-vehicle connectivity chipsets that drove a new automotive standard (MIPI A-PHY), the closest match to KD's automotive optical Ethernet play.

$160MComparable

Aquantia

United States · www.marvell.com ↗

Venture-backed fabless multi-gig Ethernet PHY designer that sold networking ICs to automotive and enterprise customers before it listed and was acquired by Marvell.

$190MComparable

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Wooptix

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Notes: Most funded first

Investors 6

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Bullnet Capital

bullnetcapital.com

Series A 2012 Spain

Criteria Capital Risc

criteriaventuretech.com

Series A 2012 Spain

Centro para el Desarrollo Tecnológico y la Innovación

Alhambra Venture

alhambraventure.com ↗

Investor Spain

Funding rounds 1

·1 not counted

Date	Round	Amount	Lead
2012-01-02	Series A (estimated)	—	Lead not disclosed +2 more

Not counted (1)

Not counted in totals

2024-05-14

Grant

€26.8M

Lead not disclosed

+1 more

News 8

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Published	Article
2026-03-05	How BASE-AU Enables High-Speed Optical Camera Links in Next-Generation Vehicles ↗ Embedded Computing Design 2026-03-05
2026-02-03	Vector adds optical Ethernet testing to VN5650 through KD's KD7251 transceiver ↗ eeNews Europe 2026-02-03
2025-06-27	KD teams for first 10GBASE-AU camera with optical fibre connectivity ↗ eeNews Europe 2025-06-27
2025-05-13	ZF taps KD for first 10GBASE-AU optical networking ↗ eeNews Europe 2025-05-13
2024-07-12	High-speed network technology KDPOF becomes KD ↗ All About Industries 2024-07-12
2024-05-14	Industria concede 65,4 millones en ayudas del Perte Chip a las españolas Kdpof y Semidynamics ↗ Forbes España 2024-05-14
2024-05-07	KDPOF collaborates with Hinge Technology ↗ CIE (Components in Electronics) 2024-05-07
2023-10-02	TRUMPF and KDPOF showcasing first 980nm multi-gigabit interconnect system for automotive systems ↗ Semiconductor Today 2023-10-02