Ayar Labs Secures $500M to Replace Copper with Light in AI Hardware

Copper wires have dominated data centers for decades. Ayar Labs is betting that light will replace them.

The Santa Clara-based startup closed a $500 million Series E round, pushing its valuation to roughly $3.75 billion. This more than triples its value since crossing the billion-dollar mark in late 2024.

Neuberger Berman led the round. ARK Invest, Insight Partners, the Qatar Investment Authority, Sequoia Global Equities, and 1789 Capital participated as new investors. Strategic players AMD, NVIDIA, MediaTek, and Alchip also joined the financing, bringing total funding to approximately $870 million.

Founded in 2015, the company builds TeraPHY optical engines and SuperNova remote light sources. These components replace copper interconnects with optical links transmitting data via light, delivering higher bandwidth, lower latency, and improved energy efficiency.

Integration into the NVIDIA NVLink Fusion ecosystem marked a significant strategic milestone.