Morphotonics, a Dutch company specializing in nanoimprint lithography (NIL), has raised €40 million to scale up production and enter the optical components market for data centers. This funding round was supported by investors including 3M Ventures, Innovation Industries, BOM, and Invest-NL, as well as the European Innovation Council (EIC) Fund, Ernij Next, and the European Investment Bank (EIB). Morphotonics has spent 12 years developing its NIL technology, which is used to manufacture displays for augmented reality (AR) glasses and other optical devices.
The company's NIL process involves creating a 'stamp' that is applied to photosensitive materials to produce various display types, including waveguides for smart glasses. CEO Hugo Da Silva noted that the demand for smart glasses is increasing, with a report from IDC predicting shipments of smart glasses with displays to reach 12.2 million by 2030. In China, sales of smart glasses doubled in the first eight months of this year.
Morphotonics plans to use the new funding to increase its workforce from approximately 30 employees to around 70-75. The company has already more than doubled its headcount since CEO Da Silva joined in September 2024. The next machine being developed is expected to produce over 6 million waveguides annually and is slated for shipping in early 2027.
In addition to displays, Morphotonics is expanding into co-packaged optics for data centers, which utilize Photonic Integrated Circuits to transfer data using light. Although the company has not yet shipped machines for this application, it has received validation from potential customers. Currently, about 90% of Morphotonics' revenue comes from hardware sales, with plans to increase deployments from 10-15 systems globally to 50 in the next two to three years, which is anticipated to boost service revenue as well.