• US-based Neurophos raised USD 110M in a Series A led by Gates Frontier, with participation from M12 and Aramco Ventures.
• Founded in 2020, the startup is developing photonic AI inference chips aimed at cutting power consumption and easing data center energy constraints.
• The funding will support launching its first photonic compute system and expanding operations from Austin to a new San Francisco site.

Neurophos

US-based Neurophos, a photonic AI chip technology startup, raised USD 110 million in a Series A funding round. The round was led by Gates Frontier, with participation from M12 (Microsoft’s Venture Fund) and Aramco Ventures. It also saw participation from Carbon Direct Capital, Bosch Ventures, Tectonic Ventures, Space Capital, and others.

Founded in 2020 by Dr. Patrick Bowen and Dr. Andrew Traverso, Neurophos is an AI chip startup. It is focusing on developing high-performance, energy-efficient photonic AI inference chips. Its technology aims to enable significant reductions in power consumption. With this, it seeks to support the next generation of AI infrastructure without exponential increases in energy or physical resources. Moreover, it aims to facilitate making AI more accessible and cost-effective across industries.

“Neurophos is addressing the only problem that really matters for the future of AI: the limits imposed by silicon. Their optical architecture provides the foundation for the next generation of machine intelligence,” said Chris Alliegro, Managing Partner at MetaVC Partners.

AI Chip

Looking forward, with the new funding, it aims to accelerate the delivery of its first integrated photonic compute system. This includes datacenter-ready OPU modules, a full software stack, and early-access developer hardware. It also seeks to support its expansion from its Austin, Texas headquarters and open a San Francisco engineering site to meet early customer demand.

“This physics-level shift means both efficiency and raw speed improve as we scale up, breaking free from the power walls that constrain traditional GPUs,” said Dr. Patrick Bowen, CEO and Co-Founder of Neurophos.