News

2023/6/30

NLM Photonics Secures $1M Lead Investment from Strategic Partners Tokyo Ohka Kogyo Co., Ltd. (“TOK”) and Hamamatsu Photonics

Latest funding will advance product commercialization

Seattle, WA, June 27, 2023 — NLM Photonics, a semiconductor company leveraging its hybrid electro-optic modulation technology to transmit more data with less power, newly funds $1 million to drive further product commercialization, including engagement with fabs and hyperscale data center operators.

This round of funding is led by Tokyo Ohka Kogyo Co., LTD. (“TOK”), a world leader in advanced electronics materials manufacturing and critical semiconductor industry supplier, and HAMAMATSU PHOTONICS K.K., a major player in the photonics components space. This is TOK’s first investment in NLM Photonics and Hamamatsu’s second, with their first in June 2022. The TOK investment also includes collaboration on developing shelf-stable market-usable inks incorporating NLM’s proprietary materials. 

“This strategic investment will catalyze NLM’s engagement with semiconductor foundries and their customers; we are excited to work with TOK to accelerate deployment of our materials and continue engagement with Hamamatsu into this next phase,” says NLM Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer Dr. Lewis E. Johnson. 

“TOK recognizes that the volume of data sent over the internet continues to multiply, making it imperative that lower power-consuming data transmission technology is developed and commercialized. TOK is excited to join forces with NLM to bring about new technology that can potentially reduce the amount of power needed to transmit data,” says Yusuke Narumi, TOK Director, Officer, Dept. Manager, New Business Development Dept. 

“Through this follow-on investment, we continue to support NLM’s development of excellent organic electro-optic (EO) materials with optimism that they can contribute to the development of future products for HAMAMATSU,” says Katsuhiro Kobayashi, CEO of Hamamatsu Photonics Corporate Venture Capital Co., Ltd. 

This latest financing round paves the way to continue the commercialization supported by NLM’s robust R&D and groundbreaking contributions to materials and process technologies for hybrid organic EO modulation. Hybrid organic EO modulation addresses a key pain point in computing and networking, reducing the energy cost of increased network bandwidth to meet the needs of the ubiquitous computing era. 

About NLM Photonics  

NLM Photonics develops cutting-edge photonics solutions for transforming networking, computing, and sensing alongside our global partners and is based in Seattle and Paris. Follow us at nlmphotonics.com and on LinkedIn @nlm-photonics.  

About Tokyo Ohka Kogyo Co., Ltd. (“TOK”) 

TOK is a Japanese chemical company revolutionizing semiconductors with advanced materials. Known for their cutting-edge photoresists, TOK’s technology enables miniaturization and performance enhancements across many device technology platforms. TOK’s comprehensive solutions and commitment to sustainability continue to drive industry progress globally. Learn more at tok.co.jp/eng. 

About Hamamatsu Photonics 

Hamamatsu Photonics is a world-leading manufacturer of optoelectronic components and systems. Their corporate philosophy stresses the advancement of photonics through extensive research to yield state-of-the-art products. They provide solutions for various applications across the photonics industry, including analytical, consumer, industrial, and medical instrumentation. Through Hamamatsu Photonics Corporate Venture Capital Co., Ltd, they provide early-stage investments into startups that anticipate the needs of our future society and propose novel solutions using photonics. Learn more at hamamatsu.com and cvc.hamamatsu.com. 

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