
OpenLight makes it easier for engineers and companies to build high-performance photonic chips by providing a modular silicon photonics platform and related services. The company designs and manufactures Photonic Application-Specific Integrated Circuits (PASICs) that integrate active and passive components—lasers, modulators, amplifiers, and detectors—on a single silicon photonics die, and it supplies a Process Design Kit (PDK), in-house design/build services, and production via licensed foundry partners. OpenLight operates an open foundry/licensing model and offers PASIC design enablement tools (PDK), manufacturing services, and SaaS-like design workflows for semiconductor and photonics design teams. Its technology targets datacom, telecom, LiDAR, healthcare, HPC, AI, and optical computing markets where low-power, high-speed photonic integration is required.

OpenLight makes it easier for engineers and companies to build high-performance photonic chips by providing a modular silicon photonics platform and related services. The company designs and manufactures Photonic Application-Specific Integrated Circuits (PASICs) that integrate active and passive components—lasers, modulators, amplifiers, and detectors—on a single silicon photonics die, and it supplies a Process Design Kit (PDK), in-house design/build services, and production via licensed foundry partners. OpenLight operates an open foundry/licensing model and offers PASIC design enablement tools (PDK), manufacturing services, and SaaS-like design workflows for semiconductor and photonics design teams. Its technology targets datacom, telecom, LiDAR, healthcare, HPC, AI, and optical computing markets where low-power, high-speed photonic integration is required.
What they do: Modular silicon photonics platform for custom Photonic Application-Specific Integrated Circuits (PASICs)
Founded: 2022
Headquarters: Goleta / Santa Barbara area, California
Latest disclosed round: $34M Series A (Aug 26, 2025)
Key markets: Datacom, telecom, AI/datacenter, LiDAR, healthcare, HPC, sensing, optical computing
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Scaling heterogeneous integration of active and passive photonic components for low‑power, high‑speed optical systems in datacom, telecom, AI/datacenter, sensing and HPC.
2022
Semiconductor Manufacturing
$34,000,000
Round reported as oversubscribed; other participants include Mayfield, Juniper Networks/Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Lam Capital, New Legacy Ventures, and K2 Access.
Seed funding recorded (Crunchbase) with investor participation including Jeff Crusey.
Seed funding recorded (Crunchbase).
“Backed by strategic investors and industry VCs including Xora Innovation, Capricorn Investment Group, Mayfield, Juniper Networks/HPE, Lam Capital, New Legacy Ventures, K2 Access, and individual investor Jeff Crusey.”
Company Overview
OpenLight Photonics is an innovative start-up at the forefront of photonic integration, commercializing our cutting-edge heterogeneously integrated silicon photonics platform. OpenLight has a PDK that supports customers designing Photonic ASICs (PASICs) for applications in communications, LIDAR, quantum computing, sensing, and more. OpenLight has over 300 patents covering the integration of many different active and passive components, such as tunable lasers, DFBs, SOAs, modulators, switches, filters, and detectors, onto a single, silicon photonics chip. Join us in an exciting start-up environment with ample opportunities for growth and professional development.
Position Summary
We are looking for a candidate who will be an integral member of the OpenLight Operations team with highly cross-functional responsibilities towards optimizing the yield and quality of OpenLight’s heterogeneous silicon-IIIV photonics platform and products. The candidate will own all aspects of yield towards high volume manufacturing (HVM) and will work closely with all external foundry partners and with OpenLight’s design, layout, fab process, test, supply chain and commercial teams. The position is hybrid at our Santa Clara or Goleta, CA locations.
Responsibilities
Skills and Preferred Experience: