iPronics
Category: AI Infrastructure
Spanish silicon photonics company building programmable optical circuit switching (OCS) networking platforms for AI data centers. iPronics was founded in 2019. The company is led by Christian Dupont. Based in Valencia, Spain (HQ); Santa Clara, California. Team size: 101-500. Total funding raised: $177M. Latest round: Series B. Key investors include Maverick Silicon, Light Street Capital, NVIDIA, Triatomic Capital, Bosch Ventures, Catalight Capital, European Innovation Council Fund, The Tate Family Trust, Fine Structure Ventures (Fidelity Investments), Amadeus Capital Partners, Build Collective, Criteria Venture Tech.
- Founded
- 2019
- Headquarters
- Valencia, Spain (HQ); Santa Clara, California
- Team size
- 101-500
- Total funding
- $177M
Value proposition
iPronics ONE is a rack-mounted, software-programmable optical circuit switching platform that gives AI clusters higher bandwidth, lower latency, and reduced power consumption versus traditional copper networking, enabling flexible GPU-to-GPU connectivity within and across racks.
Products and solutions
iPronics ONE (optical circuit switching platform), programmable photonic processor/chip technology (SmartLight Processor) originally spun out of general-purpose reconfigurable photonic chip research.
Unique value
First general-purpose photonic processor reconfigurable purely via software, delivering sub-millisecond optical reconfiguration for AI cluster interconnects — unlike fixed-function optical or copper switches.
Target customer
AI infrastructure architects, network architects, platform engineers and AI cluster operators at hyperscale/enterprise AI data center operators.
Industries served
AI Infrastructure, Data Centers, Telecom/5G
Technology advantage
Silicon photonics IP spun out of Universitat Politècnica de València research lab; software-reconfigurable programmable photonic circuits (vs. purpose-built fixed photonic chips); backed strategically by NVIDIA signaling compute-ecosystem alignment.
How they differentiate
Focuses specifically on software-programmable optical circuit switching (OCS) for rack-level and cross-rack AI cluster reconfiguration, versus competitors pursuing co-packaged optics (CPO) chip-to-chip interconnects; positions as complementary/alternative to fixed optical engines.
Main competitors
Lightmatter, Celestial AI (acquired by Marvell for up to $5.5B), Ayar Labs, Polatis (H&S)
Key partnerships
NVIDIA (strategic investor/partner in AI compute ecosystem), Fabrinet (dedicated SiPh OCS packaging/assembly manufacturing line for ONE Series, announced Mar 2026), European Innovation Council (EIC Transition Grant / EIC Fund; INSPIRE project), Universitat Politècnica de València (spin-off origin), Ansys (photonics simulation collaboration)
Notable customers
Undisclosed hyperscalers and AI-cluster OEMs — company reported early wins with first ten hyperscaler and AI-cluster OEM customers for ONE-32 (as of March 2026); names not publicly disclosed
Major milestones
2019: Founded as UPV spin-off, Jan 2022: EIC Transition Grant (€2.5M), Jul 2022: €3.7M seed led by Amadeus Capital, Nov 2022: Mark Halfman appointed CEO, Sep 2024: Christian Dupont appointed CEO, Jan 2025: €20M Series A led by Triatomic Capital, Mar 2025: Launched ONE-32 silicon photonics OCS, Mar 2026: Dedicated Fabrinet SiPh manufacturing line; first ten hyperscaler/OEM wins, Sep 2, 2026: $125M Series B co-led by Maverick Silicon & Light Street with NVIDIA; Santa Clara office.
Growth metrics
Team ~100–106 employees (LinkedIn/PitchBook mid-2026); plans to roughly double headcount post-Series B. Early wins with first ten hyperscaler/AI-cluster OEM customers for ONE-32 (Mar 2026); Santa Clara US office opened; dedicated Fabrinet manufacturing line for volume production.
Market positioning
Emerging challenger in the optical AI-datacenter-networking space, differentiated via general-purpose reconfigurable photonics rather than fixed-function optics; gaining credibility via NVIDIA strategic backing.
Geographic focus
Global AI data center market, headquartered in Europe (Spain) but selling into US hyperscale/AI infrastructure market.
Patents and IP
Photonic circuit programmability IP originating from UPV research (Daniel Pérez-López's doctoral/research lineage); no specific patent numbers publicly disclosed.
About Christian Dupont
30+ years in high-tech; Texas Instruments Wireless General Manager (USA & Europe); CEO of optical MEMS startups including Varioptic and poLight; later CEO roles at Dolphin Integration and Riber. Master of Engineering, EPFL.
Latest news about iPronics
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Official website: https://ipronics.com
