The French startup Lightspring, based in Besancon, has secured over €3.5 million in total funding. The round was led by Atlantic and OVNI Capital, with participation from Concept Ventures, Ixcore, Plug and Play Ventures, and various business angels. The financing includes a seed round, a €350,000 grant from the French i-Lab competition, and additional public innovation funds.
Founded in 2026 by Gregoire Bonnat, Adria Grabulosa, and Daniel Brunner, the company develops a 3D-fabricated photonic integration platform. Lightspring uses 3D lithography, specifically two-photon polymerisation, to create optical coupling structures directly on chips. This process aims to replace traditional active alignment, which currently accounts for approximately 50% of photonic integrated circuit costs.
The technology targets coupling losses below 0.5 dB per interface and eliminates the need for precision pre-alignment. Lightspring offers a Process Design Kit for 3D optical coupling, which is designed to be materials-agnostic and equipment-agnostic. The company reports that its design cycles can be completed in under two weeks, whereas traditional bespoke packaging methods take several months.
The startup plans to use the capital to expand its team to 12 employees, hiring specialists in microfabrication, optical characterisation, and photonic circuit design. Funds will also support the development of design tools for photonic integrated circuit designers and the establishment of co-design programs with industrial partners to scale the fabrication platform for AI infrastructure.
