PicoJool has emerged from stealth with $12 million in new funding, led by Playground Global, as the company seeks to commercialize a new class of pixel-level photonics designed to increase bandwidth in AI and hyperscale data centers dramatically. The Palo Alto–based startup has developed high-bandwidth Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Lasers (VCSELs) and a suite of parallel-optics packaging technologies that aim to make optical connections as inexpensive and manufacturable as copper, enabling data centers to transition to optical architectures at scale.
The company’s technology is built around VCSEL-based parallel optical links, configured in high-lane-count formats, that support data bandwidths ranging from 1.6 terabits to 6.4 terabits. These links integrate directly into pluggable modules and emerging compute-adjacent optical formats intended for large AI systems.
PicoJool said it plans to use the investment to expand manufacturing capacity, advance research and development, and extend its platform into future generations of optical components, including anticipated 400G-per-lane systems.
PicoJool was founded by Al Yuen, a long-time photonics innovator with over 50 patents and a technical legacy that includes inventing Active Optical Cables and the QSFP transceiver. The company’s team draws from deep experience across semiconductors, optics, and large-scale networking, positioning it to produce massively parallel optical solutions for 800G, 1.6T, and next-generation interconnect needs. The company operates in Palo Alto with R&D and operational teams in the United States and Taiwan.
Playground Global led the funding round, aligning with its investment thesis centered on foundational technologies in next-generation computing. PicoJool said its technology arrives at a pivotal moment in AI infrastructure, as the industry faces unprecedented demand for high-bandwidth, cost-efficient interconnects that traditional copper-based systems can no longer support.
KEY QUOTES
“The relentless demand for bandwidth in hyperscale and AI data centers requires a fundamental shift in connectivity, moving beyond the physical and economic constraints of copper.”
Al Yuen, Founder and CEO, PicoJool
“By making high-bandwidth optical connectivity cost-competitive and manufacturable at scale, PicoJool is collapsing the cost and complexity barriers that have held photonics back for decades.”
“Along with many others, I have been predicting the move from copper to optical for over a decade. AI-scale computing is the driving force for that conversion to happen now.”
“PicoJool arrives at the precise moment the industry needs it most, where the demand for bandwidth meets the need for efficiency. By making high-bandwidth optical connectivity cost-competitive and manufacturable at scale, PicoJool is collapsing the cost and complexity barriers that have held photonics back for decades. This is exactly the kind of foundational shift we invest in at Playground.”
Pat Gelsinger, General Partner, Playground Global
