Celestial AI, a pioneering optical interconnectivity startup, has raised $250 million in a Series C1 funding round led by Fidelity Management & Research Co., pushing its valuation to an impressive $2.5 billion.
This fresh round of funding comes just a year after the Santa Clara, California-based company secured $175 million in a Series C investment led by Thomas Tull’s US Innovative Technology Fund. The latest funding further strengthens Celestial AI’s mission to revolutionize computing for AI applications.
How Celestial AI is Powering AI with Photonic Fabric
Celestial AI’s photonic fabric platform is designed to enhance AI processing efficiency by decoupling compute and memory. This breakthrough technology accelerates large-scale AI computations while reducing energy consumption, addressing one of the biggest challenges in generative AI.
CEO David Lazovsky emphasized the increasing infrastructure demands of AI, stating: “With the emergence of complex reasoning models and agentic AI, the requirements on AI infrastructure are compounding. Cluster sizes must scale from a few AI processors in a server to tens of processors in a single rack and thousands of processors across multiple racks, all while relying on high-bandwidth, low-latency network connectivity to handle massive data transfers between processors.”
New and Existing Investors Back the Vision
The Series C1 round saw participation from a mix of new and returning investors. New investors include:
- BlackRock
- Maverick Silicon
- Tiger Global Management
- Lip-Bu Tan
Returning investors who reaffirmed their support include:
- AMD Ventures
- Koch Disruptive Technologies
- Temasek Holdings and its Xora Innovation fund
- Porsche Automobil Holding
- Engine Ventures
Since its founding in 2020, Celestial AI has now raised over $515 million, reinforcing its position as a key player in AI infrastructure and optical interconnectivity.
Celestial AI’s latest funding aligns with the growing focus on AI-driven chip innovations. Last month, another AI chip startup, EnCharge AI, raised over $100 million in a Series B round led by Tiger Global, highlighting the increasing investor interest in next-generation computing technologies.
With AI’s evolving needs, Celestial AI’s photonic fabric is poised to play a crucial role in enhancing computing efficiency for advanced AI models. The company’s latest funding ensures it remains at the forefront of this transformation.
