Salience Labs, an Oxford, UK-based semiconductor startup developing photonic networking technology for AI data centres, has raised $125 million in an oversubscribed Series B funding round led by Bullhound Capital.
The round included participation from AMD Ventures, Intel Capital, SBI Group, Hudson River Trading and British Business Bank. Existing investors Applied Ventures, Oxford Science Enterprises, Cambridge Innovation Capital and Silicon Catalyst Ventures also participated. Bullhound Capital Principal Callum Stewart will join the company’s board of directors.
Founded in 2021, Salience Labs is led by co-founders Vaysh Kewada, CEO, and Johannes Feldmann, CTO. The company builds on research from the University of Oxford and the University of Münster, focusing on silicon photonics and optical networking infrastructure for AI computing systems.
Salience Labs develops fully integrated optical circuit switching (OCS) technology designed to connect thousands of graphics processing units (GPUs) across multiple racks in AI data centres. Its architecture uses optical signals to route data, aiming to reduce network latency, power consumption and connectivity bottlenecks associated with conventional electronic switching infrastructure.
The company plans to use the new capital to accelerate the deployment of its optical switching technology, increase volume manufacturing capacity and expand its US operations in Silicon Valley.
The financing follows Salience Labs’ demonstration of a 64-port all-optical silicon photonic switch at ECOC 2026. The company is also developing future 128-port and 256-port optical switching solutions to support larger AI computing networks.
As part of the Series B round, British Business Bank invested £10 million in Salience Labs, supporting the development and commercialisation of its optical networking technology.
Salience Labs previously secured $30 million in Series A financing in February 2025, led by Applied Ventures and ICM HPQC Fund. The earlier investment supported the development of its optical switching products for large-scale AI infrastructure.
