Staera Semiconductor has emerged from stealth with $4.6 million in pre-seed funding to develop optical interconnect technology that integrates light-based data links directly into silicon chips. Formerly known as New Silicon Corporation, the company is advancing its Lightwire platform to address data movement limitations affecting AI computing systems. The financing was led by Openspace Capital, with participation from SGInnovate, Black Kite Capital, 28 Holdings, In Group, and Decimus Technologies.
Staera is developing technology designed to replace selected electrical connections between semiconductor components with optical links.
The approach targets a growing challenge in AI infrastructure: moving large quantities of data between processors, memory, and other computing components without substantial increases in power consumption.
AI accelerators can perform increasingly complex computations, but their performance also depends on the speed and energy efficiency of the connections moving information between chips.
Conventional copper interconnects can face limitations involving signal integrity, power consumption, and distance.
Optical technology offers an alternative by transmitting information using light.
However, conventional optical interconnects often rely on separately manufactured light sources and other components attached to semiconductor packages.
Staera is developing an approach that integrates the optical link directly into silicon.
Its Lightwire technology combines complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor circuits, gallium nitride light-emitting diodes, and silicon nitride waveguides.
These components are fabricated together using processes intended to be compatible with existing semiconductor manufacturing facilities.
The company believes this design could reduce packaging complexity while improving power efficiency and data transfer performance.
Staera has worked on integrating gallium nitride LEDs into silicon chips through commercial foundries since 2016.
According to the company, its manufacturing processes have achieved yields ranging from 98% to 99%.
Lightwire is designed to operate within bridge or interposer chips used to connect processors and memory components.
This positioning is intended to support integration with existing advanced semiconductor packaging approaches.
Staera is targeting energy consumption below 0.2 picojoules per bit, compared with approximately five picojoules per bit for certain co-packaged optical technologies.
The company’s proposed architecture is also designed to support more than 600 optical links per millimeter of chip edge.
Staera estimates that a system transferring 24 terabytes of data per second could require less than 50 watts through Lightwire, compared with nearly one kilowatt using alternative co-packaged optical systems.
These figures represent the company’s design targets and performance comparisons rather than independently established commercial deployment results.
Its initial technology is designed to support data transfer rates of four to eight gigabits per second per link.
The company also envisions future high-bandwidth memory configurations capable of substantially increasing aggregate data throughput.
The funding will support continued technical development, hiring, and engagement with semiconductor customers and supply chain partners.
Staera is targeting commercial product availability in 2030.
The company’s technology received recognition at two semiconductor industry competitions during May 2026.
It won the startup competition at the IEEE Electronic Components and Technology Conference and finished as runner-up in the Lam Capital Venture Competition.
Staera believes the growing power requirements of AI data centers create opportunities for technologies that improve the efficiency of semiconductor connectivity.
The pre-seed financing will support its transition from research toward commercialization of integrated optical interconnects.
KEY QUOTES:
“AI’s bottleneck is no longer how fast chips compute, but how fast and far they can move data. Copper performance plummets over the millimeter-to-meter distances that matter most in AI accelerators, and bolt-on optics add power and complexity. We build the light into the chip, the entire optical link inside a chip, so the connection gets smaller, cooler and faster with each generation. This funding takes Lightwire from the lab to customers, and the Staera name marks that move.”
Dr. Andrew Kim, CEO Of Staera Semiconductor
“Staera is addressing one of AI infrastructure’s most urgent challenges: moving vast amounts of data between chips without a corresponding rise in power, heat and complexity. Its ability to build optical links directly into silicon offers a compelling path to faster, more efficient, and more scalable AI systems. We backed Staera because of the strength of its technology, the depth of its team and its potential to define a new category in semiconductor connectivity.”
Hian Goh, Co-Founder Of Openspace Capital
