Photonics VC Update is a monthly series to brief scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs, and business leaders about the venture funding of emerging companies in various photonics technologies.
To ensure Photonics VC Update includes your venture capital funding announcement, please send it to [email protected], with “Photonics VC Update” in the subject line.
Following an active June, the volume of announced ventures deals in July decreased, but there were larger deals closed in a few interesting markets.
Initially spun out of Stanford University in 2014, Santa Clara-based Halo Industries is developing laser-based tools and processing technologies to produce high-quality silicon carbide (SiC) wafers, a critical component for the high-power electronics industry but traditionally challenging to process given the material properties. The company announced a $80 million Series B round led by U.S. Innovative Technology Fund (USIT) with participation by 8VC and SAIC, and with the funding hopes to advance its SiC technology as well as develop laser-based wafering and processing technologies for silicon, sapphire, and diamond.
Germany-based planqc is building neutral atom-based quantum computers, originally developed at the Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics. Quantum information in such computers is processed by arranging neutral atom qubits trapped in optical lattices and manipulating them with precisely controlled laser pulses. The company closed a €50 million Series A round led by the European Family Office CATRON Holding and the DeepTech & Climate Fonds (DTCF) and seeks to establish a quantum computing cloud service as well as develop quantum software for applications in industries including healthcare, climate tech, automotive, and finance.
Finally, leveraging femtosecond laser technology, PulsaMedica is developing an ophthalmic medical platform for screening and treating vitreoretinal disease with a near-term goal of becoming the global expert in noninvasive, safe, effective screening and treatment of eye floaters. Originally spun out of The University of Alberta and based in Edmonton, the company closed a pre-Series A round of $12 million CAD led by Saltagen Ventures and with participation from several other early-stage funds.
Eric Hall
Eric Hall is a managing partner of Entrada Ventures, a seed-stage fund investing in innovative technologies. He has worked alongside multiple Nobel Prize winners in building successful startups across various photonics technologies, including Aurrion (silicon photonics), Soraa (GaN LEDs), Kaai (GaN lasers), and Agility Communications (InP photonics), leading to multiple acquisitions. Subsequently, Hall led several transactions as an investment banker at Golding Partners before moving into early-stage investing. He earned his Bachelor of Science in engineering physics at UC Berkeley, a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Columbia Business School, and a PhD in materials at UC Santa Barbara.