SMART Photonics

Founded in 2012 as a spin-off of TU Eindhoven, SMART Photonics manufactures integrated photonic semiconductors on InP (indium phosphide) substrate, critical components for high-capacity telecommunications infrastructure, data centres, and advanced sensing applications. The company's technology sits in a segment strategic to European technological sovereignty in photonic semiconductors, an area where Europe aims to reduce dependence on non-European suppliers. Its funding path reached a turning point in July 2023, with a €100 million round backed by a group of Dutch industrial and financial investors, plus a €60 million public contribution from the Dutch government under the National Growth Fund's PhotonDelta project — bringing the company's total funding raised to approximately $244 million across fifteen rounds. Recognition of SMART Photonics' strategic role has further consolidated through European Union programmes: the company is among the beneficiaries of the EIC STEP Scale-Up, a programme with a €300 million budget for 2025-2026 dedicated to technologies considered critical to European strategic autonomy. In parallel, TNO began construction of a €153 million pilot plant for industrial-scale photonic chip production, co-financed by the EU Chips Act under the PIXEurope project, which SMART Photonics will benefit from to accelerate its production capacity. SMART Photonics thus positions itself as one of Europe's leading players in integrated photonics, a sector whose strategic relevance has grown rapidly alongside expanding demand for data infrastructure and high-capacity connectivity.