Volantis raises $88M to develop photonic inference systems
$88M. Volantis just closed its Series A to build photonic inference chips — and the backers read like a frontier lab roster.
Why it matters
Volantis is building specialized photonic hardware for AI inference, a compute-optimization play distinct from the GPU/TPU mainstream. The round's composition — Lachy Groom, Kleiner Perkins' Doerr, and Naveen Rao (Intel AI veteran) — signals enterprise and foundational-model customers are willing to fund alternative inference architectures. For practitioners, this represents a potential path to lower latency and power consumption in production inference workloads; for infrastructure teams, it's a signal that photonic inference is moving from lab to commercial deployment.
The key facts
6 to knowSeries A: $88M
Lead: Lachy Groom and Abstract Ventures
Other backers: John Doerr (Kleiner Perkins), Naveen Rao (ex-Intel AI)
Half-dozen additional participants
Technology focus: photonic inference systems
Announcement date: October 1, 2026
Go to the source
SiliconAnglesiliconangle.com
Publisher excerpt: Volantis Inc. today announced that it has raised a $88 million funding round led by prominent angel investor Lachy Groom and Abstract Ventures. The Series A deal also drew more than a half-dozen other participants. The group included Kleiner Perkins chair John Doerr and Naveen Rao, the former head…