Polaris Electro-Optics Raises Seed Financing

Colorado-based integrated photonics startup Polaris Electro-Optics has closed a $3 million seed financing round. The company, which develops solutions for optical interconnect systems, including for data centers, AI, and wireless, will use the funding to advance material and design innovation.

Rhapsody Venture Partners led the investment, with support from Buff Gold Ventures and pre-seed investor M Ventures. In an announcement detailing the investment, Sally Hatcher, managing partner of Buff Gold Ventures, said that Polaris’ technology builds on intellectual property licensed from the University of Colorado (CU). According to Venture Partners at CU Boulder, the commercialization arm of the university, Polaris Electro-Optics provides ferroelectric nematic liquid crystals and device reference designs for CMOS foundries for enhanced electro-optic modulators.

Per the investment, Bernard Lupien, general partner at Rhapsody, will join Polaris’ board.

There are 34 suppliers of Photonic Integrated Circuits in the Photonics Marketplace.

Published: December 2023

Glossary

photonic integrated circuit: A photonic integrated circuit (PIC) is a compact and integrated device that incorporates multiple photonic components and functions on a single chip, similar to the way electronic integrated circuits (ICs) integrate various electronic components. The goal of a photonic integrated circuit is to manipulate and control light signals for applications in optical communication, sensing, signal processing, and other photonic technologies. Key points about photonic integrated circuits: Integration...
integrated photonics: Integrated photonics is a field of study and technology that involves the integration of optical components, such as lasers, modulators, detectors, and waveguides, on a single chip or substrate. The goal of integrated photonics is to miniaturize and consolidate optical elements in a manner similar to the integration of electronic components on a microchip in traditional integrated circuits. Key aspects of integrated photonics include: Miniaturization: Integrated photonics aims to...

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