Dutch nanoimprint maker Morphotonics raises €40M and targets data center optics

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Morphotonics, a Dutch company that has spent 12 years quietly working on nanoimprint lithography, has raised €40 million. Its process presses a "stamp" into light-sensitive material to make optics such as the waveguides in smart glasses. 3M Ventures, Innovation Industries, BOM and Invest-NL backed the round, with the EIC Fund, Dutch family office Ernij Next and the European Investment Bank also taking part.

The €40 million is the latest instalment of a round that opened in 2024 and has arrived in several pieces, which is one way to keep a round open for quite a while. Staff numbers have doubled to 60 since CEO Hugo da Silva joined in September 2024, and the company expects to level off at 70 to 75.

Next is a machine able to make over 6 million waveguides annually, due to ship early next year, plus a move into co-packaged optics for data centers. It has shipped nothing there yet, though it says customers have validated the technology. Hardware brings in about 90% of revenue, from 10 to 15 systems deployed.