Pilot Photonics picks up €10.4M in EIC support

Pilot Photonics, the Dublin-based startup with expertise in highly integrated photonic components and circuits, says it has been approved for a €10.4 million investment via the European Innovation Council (EIC) Accelerator program.

The firm, which has patented technologies including comb lasers, integrated tunable lasers, and high-speed optical interconnects, is targeting applications in AI data centers, satellite communications, and state-of-the-art wireless mobile networks.

“The integration of photonic components into compact, cost-effective, production-scalable chips lowers the barrier of entry for critical industries,” stated Pilot Photonics. “Data servers have already adopted PICs to better handle the bandwidth demands of AI.

“Commercially driven space exploration has also turned to photonic chips to help reduce the size, weight, and power consumption of its systems. Pilot Photonics' technology has already received validation from leading international customers within both markets.”

Spacecom collaboration

The EIC Accelerator funding comes at a critical stage for the company, which says that it will use it to support product qualification, high-volume manufacturing, and expansion of the team in Ireland and internationally.

CEO William Oppermann added: "Being selected by the European Innovation Council is a major endorsement of Pilot Photonics' technology, team, and commercial ambition.

“This support gives us the platform to move from breakthrough innovation to industrial scale-up, building a stronger team in Ireland, qualifying our products for global customers, and establishing the supply chain required to compete internationally.”

Within the past month Pilot Photonics announced that it was collaborating with another Irish company - Galway-headquartered Mbryonics - to deliver terabit-speed optical transceivers for next-generation space communications.

Those transceivers will be based around Pilot Photonics’ fast-switching, narrow-linewidth tunable lasers, which are fabricated on indium phosphide material and emit at 1550 nm.

Mbryonics recently showcased a 25G-800G bi-directional coherent optical transceiver that it claims is the first to be purpose-built for the extreme environment of space, with CTO David Mackey saying:

“To build the internet in space, Mbryonics requires best-in-class hardware components that can withstand the harshest environments while delivering maximum data throughput.

“Pilot Photonics’ advanced PIC-based laser engines complement our optical communication architecture, allowing us to deliver next-generation, high-speed satellite connectivity to our global customers.”