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Ayar Labs

Unicorn · $3.8B

San Jose, US · Founded 2015 · 259 employees on LinkedIn · 23 known investors

Find your way into Ayar Labs

353 people in our graph share verified history with the Ayar Labs team — schools, employers, funds. One of them is your warm intro.

Noubar Afeyanunlockedknows Mark Wade · together at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) (overlapped)
×7knows the team · via Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
×3knows the team · via University of Colorado Boulder
knows the team · via Ayar Labs

Ayar Labs develops co-packaged optics (CPO) technology for AI infrastructure, enabling optical connectivity between thousands of GPUs across data center racks. The company manufactures optical engines (TeraPHY) and light sources (SuperNova) designed for hyperscale AI deployments requiring high bandwidth and low latency.

Also known as Ayar Labs, Inc.

Founders & leadership

Ayar Labs was founded in 2015 by Mark Wade.

MWMark Wade
Mark WadeinPresident and CEO, Co-FounderMark Wade holds a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Colorado at Boulder and previously led the optical communications team at a processor company focused on light-based chip-to-chip communication. He co-founded Ayar Labs after conducting research on photonics technologies at MIT and UC Berkeley between 2010 and 2015.

Investors · 23

Valuation · disclosed

Disclosed events
$3.8Bvaluation at Series EJan 2025
filing ↗

Source: SEC prospectus filings, and round valuations the company or its investors disclosed — follow each entry's link for the claim.

Company profile

researched Aug 2026

Ayar Labs develops co-packaged optics (CPO) for AI infrastructure, replacing electrical copper interconnect inside and between systems with optical connectivity. Its CPO solutions are designed to connect thousands of GPUs across multiple racks into a single unified cluster over an optical fabric, targeting the bandwidth density, latency and power-efficiency requirements of hyperscale AI workloads.

The product line centers on two components. The TeraPHY optical engine integrates directly into existing chip package architectures and provides protocol-agnostic, high-bandwidth optical I/O; the company states it uses the standard form factor, manufacturing and packaging flows already used by major XPU and switch vendors to ease integration into customer designs, and that it has been validated across multiple product generations with verification and reliability testing. The SuperNova remote light source is a compact, low-power external laser source in the industry-standard ELSFP form factor that pairs with TeraPHY to form a complete optically connected rack-scale solution.

Business model

Ayar Labs supplies silicon photonics hardware components — optical engines and remote light sources — to be integrated into customers' chip packages, systems and racks, positioning its parts within existing XPU, switch and rack manufacturing flows.

Traction

The company reports its TeraPHY optical engine has passed testing for AI scale-up at volume, is validated across multiple generations, and that its Series E funding is directed at accelerating volume production; it was reported valued at $3.8 billion.

Latest developments

Recent announcements include the close of a $500 million Series E to accelerate volume production of co-packaged optics, joining the NVIDIA NVLink Fusion ecosystem for rack-scale AI infrastructure, the appointment of Sejal Patel Daswani as Chief People and Operations Officer, and planned showcasing of CPO innovations with Wiwynn and ecosystem partners at Computex 2026.

Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market

Market position

The company positions itself in co-packaged optics for AI scale-up, with endorsements from semiconductor and system partners including NVIDIA's chief scientist, the CTOs of Alchip and GUC, and Wiwynn's CEO, and participates in industry discussions on commercial CPO deployment alongside Alchip and Astera Labs.

Ayar Labs emphasizes compatibility with standard packaging and manufacturing flows already used by XPU and switch vendors, protocol-agnostic optical I/O that integrates into existing package architectures, use of the industry-standard ELSFP form factor for its remote light source, and multi-generation validation plus reliability testing aimed at production deployment.

Technology

Silicon photonics-based co-packaged optics: the TeraPHY optical engine provides in-package optical I/O intended to replace copper's bandwidth and reach limitations, and is described as protocol-agnostic; the SuperNova remote light source supplies laser light in the ELSFP industry-standard form factor with a low-power, compact design. Together they are presented as a manufacturing-ready solution for optically connected rack-scale and multi-rack AI architectures.

Go-to-market

Ayar Labs works through ecosystem and co-design partnerships with semiconductor and system vendors — including joint design work with GUC, collaboration with Wiwynn on rack-level integration, and participation in the NVIDIA NVLink Fusion ecosystem — and engages directly with customers designing next-generation silicon and AI systems.

Hyperscale AI and HPC operators, plus silicon and system designers: XPU and switch vendors, ASIC design partners and rack-level system integrators building AI infrastructure.

Compiled by commissioned research from 1 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.

Key figures

latest reported
HeadcountAug 2026259
ValuationJan 2025$3.8B

Company-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.

Competitors · 4

by search overlap

Companies competing with Ayar Labs for the same Google search keywords, organic and paid, via search-intersection analysis.

Non-dilutive funding · 4 SBIR/STTR awards

Federal grants — no equity taken
AgencyPhaseYearAmount
Department of EnergyPhase I2018$225K
Department of EnergyPhase II2017$999.3K
National Science FoundationPhase I2016$150K
Department of EnergyPhase I2016$148K

Source: SBIR.gov award data (U.S. Small Business Administration). SBIR/STTR awards are competitive federal R&D grants and contracts — non-dilutive capital alongside any venture rounds above.

Timeline · 5

launches, deals, and filings
Jan 2026
Wiwynn and ecosystem partners to showcase co-packaged optics innovations at Computex 2026

Ayar Labs is referenced among ecosystem partners collaborating with Wiwynn on rack-level co-packaged optics integration and manufacturing.

source ↗

Jan 2025
Ayar Labs closes $500M Series E to accelerate volume production of co-packaged optics

The company announced the close of a $500 million Series E round, positioned as funding the acceleration of volume production of its co-packaged optics products.

$500M source ↗

Jan 2025
Sejal Patel Daswani appointed Chief People and Operations Officer

source ↗

Jan 2025
Ayar Labs joins NVIDIA NVLink Fusion ecosystem

Ayar Labs joined the NVIDIA NVLink Fusion ecosystem to bring co-packaged optics to rack-scale AI infrastructure.

source ↗

Jan 2025
TeraPHY optical engine reported to pass qualification testing for AI scale-up at volume

source ↗

Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.

In the news

Research sources · 1

primary sources listed

1 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.

Frequently asked questions

What does Ayar Labs do?
Ayar Labs builds co-packaged optics that link thousands of GPUs across racks into a single AI compute cluster.
Who founded Ayar Labs?
Ayar Labs was founded by Mark Wade in 2015.
Who are Ayar Labs's investors?
Ayar Labs's investors include NVIDIA, Alumni Ventures, Basecamp Fund, Berkeley Frontier, Blue Bear Ventures, Castor Ventures (an Alumni Ventures Fund), Factorial Funds, G Vision Capital and 15 more.
Where is Ayar Labs headquartered?
Ayar Labs is headquartered in San Jose, US.