Company · Chips & compute
Lightmatter revenue, valuation & funding
Lightmatter was valued at $4.4B in its October 2024 Series D, its last confirmed round. It's a private company with no ticker and no announced IPO date, and it hasn't published revenue.
At a glance
- Valuation: $4.4B at its $400M Series D, in October 2024.
- Revenue: not published. No revenue figure has been reported by the company or the press.
- Status: private. No stock ticker. No IPO date announced.
- Founded: 2017, by MIT researchers Nicholas Harris, Darius Bunandar and Thomas Graham.
- CEO: Nicholas Harris, PhD, a founder.
- Investors: investors advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, Fidelity and GV, among others.
- Products: the Passage M1000 and Passage L200 optical interconnects, the Guide light engine and the Envise processor.
- Headquarters: Mountain View, California, with offices in Boston, Hsinchu and Toronto.
Is Lightmatter public? Can you buy its stock?
No. Lightmatter is a private company, so its shares don't trade on any stock exchange and it has no ticker symbol. Forge Global says its shares can't be bought through traditional brokerages.
In October 2024, CEO Nicholas Harris told Reuters that the Series D would probably be the company's last private round. Forge read that as a hint at an eventual IPO. It also says no IPO date has been announced.
Until then, its shares are held by its founders, staff and investors. Accredited investors may reach some through private marketplaces such as Forge. This page reports facts and gives no investment advice.
Valuation, round by round
Its valuation went from $1.2B in December 2023 to $4.4B in October 2024, more than tripling in under a year.
| Date | Valued at | Raised | Led by | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 2024 | $4.4B | $400M | new investors advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. | DatacenterDynamics |
| Dec 2023 | $1.2B | $155M | — | DatacenterDynamics |
No round has been reported since the October 2024 Series D, which brought its total raised to $850M.
How Lightmatter makes money
Sacra says Lightmatter sells high-value capital equipment directly to cloud providers and AI companies. It names two product lines, the Envise processor and the Passage interconnect.
- Manufacturing. Lightmatter says partnerships with TSMC, GlobalFoundries and Tower give it high-volume capability. Lightmatter's website
- Chip partners. In January 2026 it was reported to partner with GUC on co-packaged optics and with Cadence on optical interconnect. Tracxn
- Nvidia. In June 2026 it joined the NVIDIA NVLink Fusion ecosystem, to deliver optical products compatible with Nvidia's technology. Lightmatter's website
Products
- Passage M1000 (announced March 31, 2025). A 3D photonic superchip with 114 Tbps of total optical bandwidth, due to ship in summer 2025. Lightmatter's website
- Passage L200 (announced March 31, 2025). A co-packaged optics product, launched alongside the M1000. Lightmatter's website
- Guide (January 2026). A light engine for AI, reported by HPCwire. Tracxn
- Envise. A processor, which Sacra names as one of its two product lines. Sacra
Leadership
- Nicholas Harris, PhD, founder and CEO. Lightmatter's website
- Darius Bunandar, PhD, founder and chief scientist. Lightmatter's website
- Thomas Graham, founder and head of machine learning. Lightmatter's website
- Simona Jankowski, CFO since July 2024. She was Nvidia's VP of investor relations and strategic finance. DatacenterDynamics
- Ritesh Jain, SVP, engineering and operations. Lightmatter's website
- Bob Turner, SVP, sales and solution architecture. Lightmatter's website
- Beth Keil, SVP, people and culture. Lightmatter's website
- Colin Sturt, general counsel. Lightmatter's website
Who owns Lightmatter?
Its founders, staff and investors. As a private company it doesn't publish who holds what, and no stake has been disclosed. By October 2024 it had raised $850M in total.
- Investors advised by T. Rowe Price Associates led the $400M Series D in October 2024. DatacenterDynamics
- Fidelity and GV were existing investors and took part in the Series D. DatacenterDynamics
Competitors
Data sites name two groups of rivals. Tracxn lists chip makers, and Sacra lists photonics startups. Nvidia appears on both sides, as a rival on Tracxn and as a partner through NVLink Fusion.
Timeline and latest news
From its founding to the latest reports, newest first.
- Jun 3, 2026Latest
Joined the NVIDIA NVLink Fusion ecosystem. Lightmatter's website - Mar 2026Latest
Had 315 employees, according to Tracxn. Tracxn - Jan 28, 2026Latest
Introduced the Guide light engine for AI. Tracxn - Jan 27, 2026
Partnerships with GUC and Cadence were announced. Tracxn - Mar 31, 2025
Announced the Passage M1000, with 114 Tbps of optical bandwidth. Lightmatter's website - Mar 31, 2025
Announced the Passage L200 co-packaged optics product. Lightmatter's website - Oct 16, 2024
Raised $400M at a $4.4B valuation, led by investors advised by T. Rowe Price. DatacenterDynamics - Oct 16, 2024
Nicholas Harris told Reuters this would probably be its last private round. Forge Global - Jul 2024
Appointed former Nvidia executive Simona Jankowski as CFO. DatacenterDynamics - Dec 2023
Reached a $1.2B valuation on a $155M extended Series C. DatacenterDynamics
Questions people ask
Is Lightmatter a public company? Can I buy Lightmatter stock?
No. Lightmatter is private and has no ticker, so its shares aren't sold on any exchange. Forge says accredited investors may reach some through private marketplaces.
When will Lightmatter IPO?
No IPO date has been announced. Its CEO told Reuters in October 2024 that the Series D would probably be its last private round, according to Forge.
Who owns Lightmatter?
Its founders, staff and investors, including investors advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, Fidelity and GV. Stakes haven't been disclosed.
Who is the CEO of Lightmatter?
Nicholas Harris, PhD, one of its founders.
Who founded Lightmatter?
Nicholas Harris, Darius Bunandar and Thomas Graham, MIT researchers, in 2017.
How much is Lightmatter worth?
$4.4B at its $400M Series D in October 2024, as reported by DatacenterDynamics. No round has been reported since.
How much revenue does Lightmatter make?
It doesn't publish revenue, and no figure has been reported by the company or the press.
How does Lightmatter make money?
By selling high-value equipment directly to cloud providers and AI companies, according to Sacra. Its lines are the Passage interconnect and the Envise processor.
Where is Lightmatter headquartered?
Mountain View, California, with offices in Boston, Hsinchu and Toronto. Tracxn places it in Boston.
Who are Lightmatter's competitors?
Tracxn lists Nvidia, Groq and Graphcore Systems. Sacra names photonics startups Celestial AI, Ayar Labs and Luminous Computing.
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How this page is sourced
Each figure links to the filing, company statement or news report it came from, with its date. Run rates are what reporters were told, not audited results; estimates and unconfirmed reports are marked. Quotes are what each person said on the record, with the minute they said it. Spotted something that's off? .
Last checked Nov 8, 2026