AI datacenters are increasingly limited by the scalability and energy efficiency of optical interconnects. Current solutions rely on arrays of discrete lasers or nonlinear comb sources, both of which scale poorly in cost, power, control complexity, and manufacturability as bandwidth and wavelength count grow. As systems move toward dense WDM and wide-and-slow optics, the laser itself becomes the dominant bottleneck. Aylight was founded by photonics researchers from ETH Zurich, Harvard, and leading semiconductor labs. We develop a novel multi-wavelength laser architecture that generates a stable, RF-locked wavelength grid from a single InP-based engine, targeting AI datacenter interconnects and adjacent photonics markets exceeding $100B.
Location: Switzerland
Total raised: $5.14M
Investors 1
| Date | Name | Website |
| 27.02.2026 | Venture Ki... | venturekic... |
Funding Rounds 1
| Date | Series | Amount | Investors |
| 07.07.2026 | Pre-Seed | $5.14M | Plug and P... |
Mentions in press and media 4
| Date | Title | Description |
| 09.07.2026 | Aylight Unlocks AI Growth: €4.5M Fuels Optical Breakthrough | Aylight closes €4.5M pre-seed. The funding targets AI's pressing optical bottleneck. Aylight's revolutionary FM comb laser technology is the answer. It replaces numerous discrete lasers with a single chip. This enables massive, efficient da... |
| 07.07.2026 | Aylight raises €4.5M pre-seed to reinvent the laser behind AI's optical bottleneck | The raise comes as the laser emerges as a central constraint on scaling artificial intelligence. In March 2026, Nvidia committed $4 billion across Coherent and Lumentum to secure advanced laser and optical-interconnect supply for AI data c... |
| 06.07.2026 | Aylight closes €4.5M pre-seed round to advance optical interconnect technology | Swiss photonics startup Aylight has raised €4.5 million in a pre-seed funding round to support the development of its chip-scale multiwavelength laser technology. The round was co-led by Elaia and Swisscom Ventures, with participation from ... |
| - | Aylight | “Aylight” |