Salience Labs is building a hybrid photonic-electronic chip for AI. We have designed a massively parallel, ultra-high throughput Photonic Tensor Processing Unit. Photonics allows data to be modulated at up to 100 GHZ, and allows for high levels of parallelization using multiplexing. We integrate this photonic unit into a SoC architecture designed to exploit its high throughput for AI inference. Salience Labs technology is based on decades of research collaboration between Oxford University and University of Münster, Germany.
Location: United Kingdom
Total raised: $41.5M
Investors 6
| Date | Name | Website |
| - | Silicon Ca... | siliconcat... |
| - | Oxford Inv... | oxfordinve... |
| - | Deeptech L... | dtl.vc |
| 25.02.2022 | Perivoli I... | perivoliin... |
| - | Oxford Sci... | oxfordscie... |
| 18.05.2023 | Cambridge ... | cic.vc |
Funding Rounds 2
| Date | Series | Amount | Investors |
| 08.02.2025 | Series A | $30M | - |
| 12.05.2022 | Seed | $11.5M | - |
Mentions in press and media 10
| Date | Title | Description |
| 09.10.2025 | The biggest European semiconductor deals in H1 2025 | In the first half of 2025, European semiconductor companies raised €1.4 billion across 30 deals, accounting for roughly 4 per cent of total capital and 1.5 per cent of deal activity within European tech, which reached €33.7 billion across 1... |
| 09.02.2025 | Salience Labs Secures $30 Million to Revolutionize AI Connectivity | In the fast-paced world of technology, where data flows like a river, Salience Labs has just made a significant splash. The Oxford-based company, specializing in photonic solutions, has successfully closed a $30 million Series A funding rou... |
| 08.02.2025 | Salience Labs: Photonic Solutions Company Raises $30 Million (Series A) | Salience Labs, a leader in photonic solutions targeting connectivity for AI data center infrastructure, announced the closing of $30 million in Series A funding led by ICM HPQC Fund and Applied Ventures, the venture capital arm of Applied M... |
| 07.02.2025 | Salience Labs Closes $30M Series A Funding | Salience Labs, an Oxford, UK-based company which specializes in photonic solutions targeting connectivity for AI datacenter infrastructure, raised $30M in funding. The round was led by ICM HPQC Fund and Applied Ventures, LLC, with participa... |
| 12.05.2022 | CIC co-leads Salience Labs’ $11.5 million seed funding round | Cambridge Innovation Capital co-leads Salience Labs’ $11.5 million seed funding round Funding will support development of ultra-high-speed photonics chips for artificially intelligent (AI) applications Cambridge Innovation Capital (CIC), th... |
| 12.05.2022 | Salience Labs Raises $11.5 Million Seed to Develop Ultra High-speed Chips Using Photonics for AI Applications | Salience Labs has raised a seed round of $11.5 million to develop an ultra high-speed multi-chip processor combining photonics and electronics to accelerate exponential advances in AI. The round was led by Cambridge Innovation Capital and O... |
| 12.05.2022 | This startup hopes photonics will get us to AI systems faster | The problem with waiting for quantum computing to bring in the next wave of AI is that it’s likely to arrive a lot slower than people would like. The next best options include increasing the speed of existing computers somehow — but there’s... |
| 12.05.2022 | Meet Salience Labs: The Oxford startup that chipped in $11.5 million to develop high-speed chips for AI applications | The speed of AI computation doubles every 3.4 months, outpacing what standard semiconductor technologies have left to offer. Meanwhile, AI hardware is moving away from general purpose applications in response to market demands which are inc... |
| - | Meet Salience Labs: The Oxford startup that chipped in $11.5 million to develop high-speed chips for AI applications | The speed of AI computation doubles every 3.4 months, outpacing what standard semiconductor technologies have left to offer. Meanwhile, AI hardware is moving away from general purpose applications in response to market demands which are inc... |
| - | Salience Labs | “Salience Labs” |