US-based connectivity technology developer Ayar Labs closed a $35m series B round yesterday featuring aerospace and defence company Lockheed Martin and semiconductor technology producers GlobalFoundries, Intel and Applied Materials.
The round was co-led by Downing Ventures and BlueSky Capital and included Castor Ventures Fund, the venture capital fund centred on alumni from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in addition to BlueSky Capital, Founders Fund, Playground Global and the Singapore state-owned SGInnovate.
Lockheed Martin, Intel and Applied Materials took part through their respective corporate venturing subsidiaries: Lockheed Martin Ventures, Intel Capital and Applied Ventures.
Founded in 2015, Ayar produces silicon-based optical interconnectors that send and receive light within hardware systems, enabling data to be transferred faster than it is through copper wires.
Target applications for the technology include aerospace, communications and artificial intelligence products. The funding will drive product enhancements as the company looks to expand into foreign markets.
Ayar raised an undisclosed sum from Lockheed Martin Ventures eight months ago having collected $3m in debt financing from venture loans provider Silicon Valley Bank in April 2019.
Playground Global led a $24m series A round for the company in late 2018 that was backed by Intel Capital, GlobalFoundries and Founders Fund, after $2.5m in seed capital from Founders Fund’s FF Science and TechU Angels in 2016. BlueSky Capital was also an existing investor in the series B round.
Ayar’s technology grew from research co-led by Rajeev Ram and Vladimir Stojanovic while they were at MIT, though Stojanovic has since moved to University of California, Berkeley.