Photon IP, a pioneer in advanced photonic integration, has unveiled a new identity as Photon Bridge and appointed industry veteran Paul Marchal as Chief Executive Officer. The rebrand underscores the company’s ambition to accelerate adoption of its proprietary cantilever waveguide coupling technology, designed to merge the speed of III-V semiconductors with the scalability of silicon for next-generation optical systems.
The company’s transition to Photon Bridge comes shortly after closing a €4.75 million seed funding round supported by Innovation Industries, Faber, BOM, and PhotonDelta. According to the company, the new name highlights its mission to “build bridges” – between distinct photonic materials and between today’s integrated photonics and the optical engines required for tomorrow’s AI and telecommunications applications.
Photon Bridge is developing high-performance optical engines to address growing demand in AI computing and high-bandwidth telecom networks. By combining speed, scalability, and manufacturability, the company aims to deliver the building blocks for systems that can handle the increasingly complex requirements of cloud-scale data transfer and next-generation AI workloads.
“Photon Bridge is about unifying the best of both worlds: the speed of III-V and the scale of silicon,” said Paul Marchal. “We are entering an era where AI and high-performance telecom demand a new level of optical integration, and our platform is uniquely positioned to deliver.”
Accelerated Innovation
Paul Marchal brings a strong track record in scaling advanced technologies. As co-founder and CEO of Morrow, he raised over €35 million to commercialize smart glasses based on tunable lens technology. At imec, he played a pivotal role in developing through-silicon via (TSV) and via-middle integration, technologies that became industry standards in advanced memory and GPU systems, while also contributing to imec’s early silicon photonics platform.
Co-founder Rui Santos, who will remain as Chief Technology Officer, emphasized the rebrand’s role in supporting the company’s technical roadmap. “With Paul leading the company and a strong team in place, we can accelerate innovation and bring our vision for integrated photonics to market,” said Rui Santos.
Photon Bridge’s approach reflects broader industry momentum toward integrating photonic technologies with scalable semiconductor processes, positioning the company to address critical infrastructure demands in the AI and telecom markets.
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