Lighting Up A.I. - Why We Invested in Opticore

AI compute demand is putting unprecedented strain on the global electrical infrastructure, with a 2025 IEA report estimating that half of electricity demand growth between now and 2030 will be driven by data centers. The energy-intensity of traditional electronics AI compute solutions is unsustainable, and scaling AI requires fundamentally new approaches to computing efficiency. Opticore is building a next-generation photonic computing chip that is up to 100 times more energy efficient and offers 25 times the computing density compared to leading GPUs.

Instead of pushing electrons through increasingly power-hungry silicon, Opticore’s chips compute with light. Their optical processing units (OPUs) use silicon photonics to perform AI workloads, massively reducing energy draw, while employing a scalable architecture compatible with existing manufacturing (fabrication) technology.

Silicon photonics has been successfully deployed into networking solutions, but hasn’t moved into compute tasks - yet. Opticore is forging the next frontier, having developed photonic processors that can scalably handle compute. Opticore’s architecture is not constrained by Moore’s law, and by efficiently taking on the heaviest compute workloads, it can re-shape energy and datacenter requirements in the AI build-out. Think fewer chips, less sharding, less energy consumption, and redesigned networking.

Origin Ventures co-led Opticore’s $14M seed financing alongside Jetha Global, which included participation from Sagax Capital and Neotribe Ventures.

Opticore is at the epicenter of Origin Ventures' focus on the Artificial Intelligence economy. Our investment in Torus provides energy and storage solutions to AI data centers, and our investment in Lemurian Labs provides a more efficient software layer for AI workloads. Opticore provides dramatically better hardware at the raw AI compute level.

The company’s combination of world-leading photonics expertise and an ambitious, practical roadmap makes them one of the most compelling teams building in semiconductors. We’re excited to back co-founder and CEO Zaijun Chen and the Opticore team as they scale their chips and shape the future of high-performance AI infrastructure.