Ccraft raises $7.8M to build the world's first independent TFLN photonic chip foundry
What's the deal? Swiss deep-tech startup CcraftDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → has closed an early VC round of CHF 6.3 million ($7.8 million) to scale photonic chip manufacturing in Neuchâtel.
The round was led by QBIT CapitalDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, with Zürcher KantonalbankDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Apprecia CapitalDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, SpacewalkDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, and Blue Wonder VenturesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → joining.
Ccraft also secured more than $3.5 million in public and cantonal funding, bringing fresh capital to $11.3 million.
Why now? The world is building AI infrastructure, driving demand for photonic chips that move data faster while using far less energy.
Ccraft says it runs the world's first independent foundry for thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN) photonic chips, a technology developed over six years at Swiss research centre CSEMDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →. It has produced chips for customers across four continents.
The company aims to scale to 2,000 wafers per month by 2030.
What could go wrong? Industrial-scale TFLN manufacturing barely exists, and Ccraft must translate its head start into volume production before global rivals catch up.
The signal: Ccraft's early-stage round pulls together a telling mix of backers — an investment fund lead in QBIT Capital alongside corporate investors Zürcher Kantonalbank and Blue Wonder Ventures, plus a European AI infrastructure operator — signalling that both financial and strategic players see TFLN photonics as a lever in the AI hardware buildout. With Europe having largely ceded traditional semiconductor manufacturing, the bet is that Switzerland can convert a research head start from CSEM into an industrial foothold in a segment the company expects to reach several billion dollars by 2030.
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Image credit: IBM Research
