Photonect is a photonic interconnect solutions company. The company provides a revolutionary solution for connecting photonic integrated circuits(devices) to optical fibers.

With the advent of AR/VR and video streaming, the need for higher data rates has grown exponentially. To satisfy this need, data centers are now migrating towards integrated photonic devices. But more than 80% of the total costs of these integrated photonic devices go to packaging (fiber to chip connections) and testing expenses. The industry still uses glue to attach an optical fiber to an integrated photonic device. The glue requires long cure times, increasing the overall device cost. As the glue cures, it shifts in position and shape, leading to low yields and inconsistent device performance.

We interviewed 150 experts in the photonics industry and 148 of them said that the fiber-attach process is a major resource drain. This creates a backlog of new photonic devices due to the inefficient optical interconnects which generate heat and consume a lot of power. This technology will become more and more critical as the data-related market grows.

The company offers fusion splicing technology as an alternative to the glue. We introduce our patented mode converter design which helps in attaching the fiber to the chip with lower losses. The mode converter was designed and simulated using Eigen mode solvers to provide the most accurate structure for the optical interconnect. A laser is used to permanently weld/bond the glass of the fiber to the glass of the mode converter, leading to a very stable and efficient connection. In addition, the process provides a 10x improvement in time/connection and 4x device performance. The technology patent has been granted and leads to a 50% cost reduction of the overall device.

Photonect will sell integrated photonic packaging device equipment to our customers. Initially, the company will provide design and fiber -attach services in house for smaller orders and prototyping for $300 per attach at a 40% margin. By the end of year 2, the company will start producing packaging equipment add-ons via partners. The company will manufacture the packaging equipment via OEMs in collaboration with partners and sell them at $300k with a 50% margin. The company will offer technical support with regards to how to install our products to their current devices and maintain our products for a certain period (including renewal and repairing). Our technical support services include running experiments in our lab to solve the customers’ problems and giving them design specifications for the device. For customer retention, we will have annual maintenance contracts and upgrade options available.