As artificial intelligence models continue to grow in size and complexity, the performance of data centres increasingly depends on the speed and efficiency of moving vast amounts of information between computing systems. While advances in processors and memory have accelerated AI capabilities, optical communication has emerged as another critical component influencing the scalability of next generation computing infrastructure. Conventional laser technologies are becoming a bottleneck as demand for faster, more energy efficient data transmission continues to rise. Swiss photonics startup Aylight is developing a new generation of semiconductor laser technology designed to address this challenge, and the company has now secured fresh funding to accelerate its commercial development.
Aylight has raised €4.5 million in a pre seed funding round co led by Elaia and Swisscom Ventures, with participation from Verve Ventures and Plug and Play.
The investment will support continued product development, semiconductor prototype manufacturing, and expansion of the company’s research and development capabilities.
Developing Next Generation Photonic Technology
Founded in 2025 by Bahareh Marzban and Dmitry Kazakov following research at ETH Zürich, Aylight develops chip scale multiwavelength laser technology for advanced optical communication and sensing applications.
The company’s innovation focuses on generating multiple precisely spaced wavelengths from a single semiconductor chip.
Traditional optical communication systems often require numerous individual lasers to transmit information across different channels.
Aylight’s architecture combines these capabilities into a single compact device, reducing system complexity while improving efficiency.
The company believes this approach can significantly improve the scalability of future optical communication infrastructure.
Addressing AI Data Centre Challenges
Rapid expansion of artificial intelligence has dramatically increased the demand for faster movement of information within data centres.
As processors become more powerful, communication between chips has become an increasingly important factor influencing overall computing performance.
Aylight’s technology has been specifically designed to improve optical interconnects that transfer information between high performance computing systems.
By reducing dependence on multiple discrete laser components, the platform aims to simplify optical communication while supporting greater bandwidth and improved energy efficiency.
The company views laser technology as one of the key infrastructure components required for the continued scaling of artificial intelligence.
Built on Semiconductor Manufacturing
Aylight’s laser platform is based on a frequency modulated comb architecture that generates multiple optical wavelengths from a single chip.
Importantly, the technology has been designed for compatibility with existing semiconductor photonics manufacturing facilities.
This approach allows the company to leverage established semiconductor foundries rather than requiring specialised production infrastructure.
Compatibility with current manufacturing processes may accelerate commercial adoption while supporting large scale production.
The company believes manufacturability is essential for widespread deployment across future AI infrastructure.
Applications Beyond Data Centres
Although artificial intelligence infrastructure represents Aylight’s primary commercial focus, the technology also offers significant opportunities across other advanced industries.
The company’s multiwavelength laser platform can support semiconductor inspection, industrial metrology, precision robotics, industrial automation, and high resolution three dimensional sensing.
These applications require extremely accurate optical measurements where compact and efficient laser sources deliver important performance advantages.
By serving multiple industries, Aylight aims to build a broad commercial market for its photonic technologies.
Accelerating Product Development
The newly secured funding will enable Aylight to manufacture its first semiconductor foundry prototypes while expanding its engineering and research teams.
Investment will support the transition from laboratory research toward commercially deployable products capable of serving rapidly growing AI infrastructure markets.
As artificial intelligence continues driving demand for faster and more efficient computing systems, enabling technologies such as advanced photonics are becoming increasingly important. By combining chip scale integration, semiconductor compatibility, and innovative multiwavelength laser architecture, Aylight aims to remove critical communication bottlenecks while supporting the next generation of high performance computing and precision sensing technologies.
