Salience Labs has secured $125 million in a Series B funding round, which will be used to develop photonic chips for AI data center connectivity. The funding round was spearheaded by Bullhound Capital, and also included contributions from AMD Ventures, Intel Capital, SBI Group, Hudson River Trading, and British Business Bank.
The news was reported by Ben Wodecki of SDxCentral. Salience Labs, a startup based in Oxford, UK, has secured $17 million in Series B funding. The funding round was led by Octopus Ventures, with participation from existing investors such as Applied Ventures LLC, Oxford Science Enterprises, Cambridge Innovation Capital, and Silicon Catalyst Ventures.
The company plans to use the funds to speed up the implementation of its Optical Circuit Switching (OCS) technology, expand its manufacturing operations, and strengthen its presence in Silicon Valley. Founded in 2021, Salience Labs is dedicated to developing photonic solutions for AI data center connectivity.
Salience Labs introduced its 32-port all-optical switch in March 2026, followed by the release of the 64-port version in September, marking a milestone for silicon photonics OCS technology. The company aims to expand its technology and provide 128- and 256-port options in the future.
Recently, Salience Labs announced a raise, and SDxCentral visited the company’s Oxfordshire facility before the official announcement. CEO and co-founder Vaysh Kewada stated that there is a significant network limitation when it comes to scaling up. One factor contributing to the deployment of optical connectivity is the desire for customers to receive significant value from their expensive investments.
Utilization and latency are the key factors in determining significance.” When examining optical switch companies, while the number is expanding, those that have demonstrated operational silicon becomes scarce, particularly in a market of that magnitude. And this is where we find ourselves participating in an intriguing area.”.
For more information, you can read about Kewada’s visit and the complete interview on this link. Additionally, find more content related to Investment, M&A, and Financing.
