Grenoble-based Scintil Photonics, an innovator in Heterogeneous Integrated Photonics for AI infrastructure, today announced the completion of a €50 million Series B funding round to expand hiring, accelerate production, and deepen its international presence.
The round was led by Yotta Capital Partners and NGP Capital, with participation from NVIDIA. The round includes new participation from BNP Paribas Développement, alongside existing investors including Supernova Invest, Bpifrance Digital Venture, Innovacom, Bosch Ventures, Applied Ventures ITIC Innovation Fund (AVITIC).
“This investment marks a pivotal moment for Scintil as we move to full-scale deployment,” said Matt Crowley, CEO of Scintil Photonics. “Our SHIP technology enables integrated photonic solutions with the scalability, energy efficiency, and integration density required to power next-generation compute infrastructure. This efficiency not only reduces data centre operating costs but also contributes to lowering the carbon footprint of AI infrastructure.
“With LEAF Light entering high-volume production, we’re expanding from our base in Grenoble into the international markets, including the U.S., to support the world’s most advanced AI factories.”
Founded in 2018, Scintil Photonics develops integrated Photonic System-on-Chip (PSoC) solutions for AI factories. Using its proprietary heterogeneous integration process, SHIP, Scintil enables high-performance optical interconnects, meeting the power and bandwidth demands of large-scale GPU clusters enabled by the next generation of co-packaged optics (CPO).
Scintil’s product LEAF Light™ is a single-chip, DWDM-native light engine for high-density optical connectivity.
The funding will enable Scintil to expand hiring in France and internationally, including the U.S., accelerate production, and deepen its international presence as it delivers the industry’s first single-chip DWDM (Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing) light engine, integrating multi-wavelength lasers with silicon photonics, aligned with next-generation CPO.
“We developed our LEAF Light integrated circuit in close collaboration with our customers. Used as an external laser source for CPO transmissions, it is a key component for the next generation of AI data centres. Its uniqueness lies in a single-chip solution that monolithically integrates precisely spaced DFB lasers on silicon photonic circuits, produced through a robust commercial supply chain,” said Sylvie Menezo, Founder and CTO of Scintil Photonics. “Our SHIP technology provides a strong and disruptive foundation to expand our portfolio of integrated photonic circuit solutions for the coming decades.”
Scintil’s proprietary SHIP (Scintil Heterogeneous Integration Photonics) process technology enables the integration of multiple optical devices, including lasers, photodiodes, and modulators, on a single chip. SHIP allows Scintil to replace dozens of traditionally separate parts with a single-chip solution that delivers previously unattainable performance, efficiency, and integration density.
Scintil originates from CEA-Leti, a worldwide leading research institute in semiconductor technologies, giving Scintil a head start in disruptive heterogeneous integration on Silicon.
“Scintil exemplifies the kind of innovation leaders we look for, combining advanced manufacturing, deep-tech leadership, and meaningful impact on the energy demands of AI infrastructure,” said Vincent Deltrieu, Managing Partner at Yotta Capital Partners. “Scintil’s integrated photonics platform is essential to scale the next generation of AI factories. We’re excited to support their global growth as they move to high-volume shipments.”
The Series B funding supports the commercial ramp of LEAF Light, a DWDM-native light engine, aligned with next-generation CPO. DWDM-native means this single-chip device can output many precisely spaced and multiplexed wavelengths, dramatically increasing bandwidth and decreasing energy requirements. By lowering power per bit, LEAF Light contributes to reducing the carbon footprint of AI data centers.
Built on Scintil’s SHIP™ platform, LEAF Light enables low-power, high-density optical connectivity, delivering 6.4 Tbps/mm edge bandwidth density today, at roughly one-sixth the power consumption of conventional pluggable solutions. It’s designed for scale-up GPU clusters and emerging AI systems, with reference packaging and integration support to accelerate deployment.
“Integrated photonics is becoming a foundation of all AI infrastructure, and Scintil is turning that future into reality,” said Bo Ilsoe, Managing Partner at NGP Capital. “Their technology delivers the bandwidth density and energy efficiency AI factories require with global scalability. We’re excited to support Scintil as they scale deployments and become a leading player in building the next wave of compute and data infrastructure.”
The funding will enable Scintil to expand hiring in France and internationally, including the U.S., from its strategic base in Grenoble. Located at the heart of Europe’s advanced semiconductor ecosystem, Scintil benefits from its proximity to institutions such as CEA-Leti and leading global semiconductor companies operating in the area, providing access to a talent pool and a collaborative innovation environment.
As part of its growth strategy, the company is establishing a U.S.-based presence to serve hyperscale and AI infrastructure partners more directly.
Alan Weckel, Co-founder and Technology Analyst, 650 Group, commented, “As the number of XPUs and AI bandwidth grows, scale-up fabrics will need to transition away from copper to optical-based solutions. AI data centers will move toward co-packaged optics and external DWDM light sources.
“Scale-up networking is an incremental opportunity for vendors, with the market set to exceed $25 billion by 2029. By the end of the decade, the whole AI Networking opportunity will approach $100 billion per year. Scintil stands out for bringing a manufacturable, foundry-aligned platform into the mix. Reliability and quickly scaling to volume are the only way hyperscalers can scale to the AI demand they plan to deploy this decade.”
Read the orginal article: https://www.eu-startups.com/2025/09/french-startup-scintil-photonics-raises-e50-million-to-scale-integrated-photonics-for-ai-factories/
