Funding update

Liangyin Technology, a young photonic chip company founded in 2024, has secured tens of millions of yuan in angel financing. The round was led by Zhuhai Technology Industry Group, with participation from Zhuhai Zhengfang Group and Xianfeng.

The company says the new capital will support hiring, additional tape-outs, and equipment purchases. A tape-out is the stage where a chip design is sent for manufacturing, a key step before testing and iteration.

Product focus

Liangyin is working on photonic integrated circuits, or PICs. In simple terms, PICs place optical functions on a chip so data can be moved with light instead of only electrical signals. This approach is increasingly relevant as AI data centers demand higher bandwidth and lower power consumption.

Its roadmap includes silicon photonics transmission chips, Optical IO, and co-packaged optics. Optical IO replaces some electrical connections with optical links, while co-packaged optics brings optical components closer to processors or switch chips to reduce signal loss and energy use.

Market view

The founding team brings experience from semiconductor R&D, EDA, and manufacturing-related roles in China and overseas. As AI infrastructure scales, optical interconnects are becoming a strategic battleground, and startups with credible chip execution capabilities may find a widening window of opportunity.