Lightmatter, a US-based artificial intelligence (AI) chipmaker  spun out of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has completed a $22m series A extension led by GV, a corporate venturing subsidiary of internet and technology conglomerate Alphabet, to bring the round’s total to $33m.
The extension also included commitments from Matrix Partners and Spark Capital, which co-led the initial $11m tranche last year.
Founded in 2017, Lightmatter is developing silicon chips that use light signals instead of electrical signals to process large datasets, such as those used for artificial intelligence-powered products.
The funds will be used to support its product development, though it is not clear when the chips will be available. Tyson Clark, partner at GV, has joined the company’s board of directors.
Clark said: “Lightmatter is building a next generation computing platform at the cutting edge of photonics and artificial intelligence, at a time when there is a growing need for new hardware-based approaches to AI acceleration
“We believe the team’s theoretical expertise and engineering talent are clear differentiators in the market for artificial intelligence accelerators.”
– A version of this article first appeared on our sister site, Global Corporate Venturing.

US-based artificial intelligence (AI) chipmaker Lightmatter has completed a $22m series A extension led by GV, a corporate venturing subsidiary of internet and technology conglomerate Alphabet, to bring the round’s total to $33m.

The extension also included commitments from Matrix Partners and Spark Capital, which co-led the initial $11m tranche last year.

Spun out of  Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2017, Lightmatter is developing silicon chips that use light signals instead of electrical signals to process large datasets, such as those used for artificial intelligence-powered products.

The funds will be used to support its product development, though it is not clear when the chips will be available. Tyson Clark, partner at GV, has joined the company’s board of directors.

Clark said: “Lightmatter is building a next generation computing platform at the cutting edge of photonics and artificial intelligence, at a time when there is a growing need for new hardware-based approaches to AI acceleration

“We believe the team’s theoretical expertise and engineering talent are clear differentiators in the market for artificial intelligence accelerators.”