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§ Private Profile · 11801 Domain Blvd Fl 3, Austin, Texas, 78758, United States
Neurophos develops AI solutions leveraging metamaterials research for computational power.
Neurophos develops optical processing units (OPUs), a novel class of photonic AI chips. These chips leverage optical metasurfaces and metamaterial modulators, providing superior speed and energy efficiency over current GPUs. Neurophos’s OPUs deliver immense computational power for demanding AI workloads within a compact, power-efficient form factor.
Founders Patrick Bowen, Andrew Traverso, and Tom Driscoll spun the company out of foundational research from Professor David Smith’s lab at Duke University. Their insight identified unsustainable power consumption and performance limits of electronic AI computing. This led to an optical approach, directly addressing the industry’s need for efficient, faster AI inference hardware.
Neurophos serves clients requiring high-performance AI inference, primarily in large data centers and demanding computing sectors. The company envisions its photonic chips enabling ultra-fast, low-power AI processing. It aims to establish optical computing as the foundational technology for next-generation artificial intelligence, ensuring sustainability.
Neurophos has raised $117.0M across 2 funding rounds.
Neurophos has raised $117.0M in total across 2 funding rounds.
Neurophos has raised $117.0M in total across 2 funding rounds.
Neurophos's investors include Gates Frontier, Alumni Ventures, Jonathan Goldberg, DNX Ventures, Gaingels, Geometry, Marc Tremblay, Mana Ventures, Chris Alliegro, Morgan Creek, Robert Bosch Venture Capital, Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures.
Neurophos has raised $117.0M across 2 funding rounds. Most recently, it raised $110.0M Series A in January 2026.
| Date | Round | Lead Investors | Other Investors | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 22, 2026 | $110M Series A | Gates Frontier | Alumni Ventures, Jonathan Goldberg, DNX Ventures, Gaingels, Geometry, Marc Tremblay, Mana Ventures, Chris Alliegro, Morgan Creek, Robert Bosch Venture Capital, Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures, Silicon Catalyst Ventures, Space Capital, Tectonic Ventures | Announced |
| Oct 1, 2023 | $7M Seed | Gates Frontier | Cambrian Ventures, Cowboy Ventures, FIN Capital, Gaingels, Grit Capital Partners, Shrug Capital, Trajectory Ventures, Union Square Ventures, ZAG Capital, Eric Seufert, Erik Matlick, Moshe Lifschitz, Sahin Boydas, Mana Ventures, MetaVC Partners | Announced |
Neurophos is a technology company founded in 2020 in Austin, Texas, specializing in optical computing hardware for AI. It develops Optical Processing Units (OPUs) that perform massive matrix multiplications in-memory using light-based computation, delivering up to 100x faster speeds and energy efficiency compared to traditional GPUs.[1][2][3][5] These OPUs target AI sectors like large language model training and inference, replacing the compute power of 100 GPUs with a single processor while using just 1% of the energy, powered by ultra-dense optical modulators that are 10,000x smaller than standard designs.[1][2][4][5] With $7.2M raised in Seed VC rounds and patents in optical devices, neural networks, and machine learning, Neurophos addresses the surging demand for high-performance, low-power AI compute.[1][3]
The company serves AI developers and organizations facing power constraints in model training/inference, solving the limitations of electronic systems like latency, heat, and energy inefficiency in scaling to terawatt-level compute.[2][4][5]
Neurophos emerged in 2020 from decades of metamaterials research, leveraging over 300 patents to pioneer optical compute for AI.[1][3] While specific founders are not detailed in available sources, the company built on innovations in photonic architectures, miniaturizing optical modulators by 10,000x to revive concepts like the Goodman Engine for purely optical vector-matrix multiplications.[2][4] Early traction came through Seed VC funding totaling $7.2M, including a recent Seed VC - II round, establishing headquarters at 11801 Domain Boulevard in Austin and filing 5 key patents.[1][3] Pivotal moments include demonstrating 160,000 TOPS at 300 TOPS/W and news coverage in November 2024 highlighting its potential to revolutionize AI hardware without energy surges.[1][2]
Neurophos stands out in photonic AI hardware through these key advantages:
Neurophos rides the AI compute explosion, where demand for terawatt-scale processing in LLMs outpaces GPU limits amid energy crises and data center constraints.[1][2][5] Timing is ideal post-2024 AI hardware hype, as photonic tech overcomes electronic bottlenecks like von Neumann latency and power walls, enabling sustainable scaling.[2][4] Market forces favoring it include hyperscaler power shortages and the shift to efficient inference, with Neurophos' 100x gains positioning it against GPU giants.[1][3][5] It influences the ecosystem by accelerating optical AI adoption, inspiring hybrid photonic-electronic systems, and democratizing high-TOPS compute for edge-to-cloud AI.[2]
Neurophos is poised for Gen3 OPU rollout, targeting toaster-sized units with GPU-rack performance to capture AI inference market share.[5] Trends like energy-capped data centers and 100 GHz photonics will propel it, potentially via partnerships with AI firms or fabless scaling on CMOS lines.[2][4] Its influence may evolve from niche innovator to ecosystem enabler, powering brain-like AI efficiency if manufacturing hurdles clear—echoing its mission to deliver human-brain compute at light speed.[3][5]