PhotonPath Funding News-PhotonPath Secures €5.1M In Series A Round

Founded in 2019 as a spin-off from Politecnico di Milano and supported by PoliHub (the university’s deep-tech incubator), PhotonPath is led by co-founder and CEO Douglas Aguiar, Ph.D. Originally from Brazil, Aguiar moved to Italy over a decade ago to pursue his PhD and postdoctoral research.

Before launching PhotonPath, he worked in Brazil’s telecom sector and later collaborated on several European research projects in Milan—where he met his co-founder and began shaping the foundation of the company.

He explained: “My research focused on integrated photonics and ultra-low-noise electronics—essentially, the building blocks of the photonic circuits we now commercialise.”

My PhD was in integrated photonics, and more specifically, in ultra-low-noise electronics to operate and control photonic circuits. It was a natural match—combining electronics and photonics into a unified product.

In 2019, we completed our postdocs and decided to found PhotonPath after receiving initial seed investment from 360 Capital, a Italo-French VC.”

PhotonPath is harnessing the power of light with scalable integrated photonics technology. The company offers a range of proprietary chipsets, plug-and-play modules, and complete sensing systems designed for telecom, data centres, aerospace, and real-time infrastructure monitoring.

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Its patented technology overcomes the limitations of traditional electronics, enabling ultra-compact, energy-efficient solutions for high-speed optical data transmission and sensing. These systems are built for demanding environments like hyperscale data centres and critical infrastructure.

PhotonPath is reimagining how integrated photonics and optical networks are designed and deployed—bringing advanced performance in a simpler, more scalable way.

According to Aguiar most people focus on the high-speed part. “Our approach is to target the more complex parts of the optical layer — areas where it’s difficult to solve problems using electronics alone.

Our products are integrated solutions designed to address these challenges. Instead of building systems from discrete optical components, like mirrors and lenses, we’ve condensed the functionality into a programmable photonic circuit.”

PhotonPath’s flagship product, the NanoOCM Spectrum Analyser, is the world’s smallest high-resolution optical spectrum analyzer. It uses patented silicon photonics circuits and smart control algorithms to deliver FlexGrid support, ultra-fast scanning, and ultra-low power consumption (under 1 watt), making it ideal for next-gen optical modules and software-defined networks.

While the sensing market is fragmented with many single-use solutions, PhotonPath’s technology is built for broad use across industries. Originally focused on telecom, the company is now developing Spectre—a reconfigurable, integrated photonics platform for fiber optic sensing. It enables accurate monitoring of temperature and strain in harsh environments like high-voltage substations and vehicle systems. Its modular, plug-and-play design allows quick deployment in energy, transportation, aerospace, and automation sectors.

One investor, an automotive company that exclusively makes braking systems, partnered with PhotonPath to create optical sensors that monitor heat, deformation, and stress. Another pilot project in the Netherlands uses PhotonPath’s tech to safely measure temperature in high-voltage utilities—something traditional sensors struggle to do.

Although integrated photonics has existed for years, especially in Europe, PhotonPath believes the sector lacked a breakthrough use case—similar to electronics before the 1990s. Now, as demand grows across sectors, the market may finally be at a turning point.

PhotonPath’s €5.1M Series A round is led by Join Capital, with participation from Deep Ocean Capital—through its Deep Blue Ventures (DBV) and Deep Blue Ventures Space (DBVS) funds—and Levante Capital, known for their deep tech expertise in the Italian ecosystem.

They join existing investors RoboIT (the CDP Venture Capital-backed tech transfer hub), 360 Capital, and Brembo Ventures, creating a strong, diverse investor base that blends financial backing with industrial and strategic support.

“PhotonPath is tackling one of the most critical challenges in the digital age, breaking through the limits of traditional electronics to unlock faster, more energy-efficient data acquisition and sensing,” said Jan Borgstädt, Partner at Join Capital.

“Their mission to transform how optical communications and infrastructure monitoring are done addresses urgent market needs and has the potential to reshape multiple industries.”

Emilia Garito, Chairman at Deep Ocean Capital, added: “At Deep Ocean Capital SGR SPA, we are proud to be part of this evolution and to support one of Italy’s most promising startups in the field of deep tech and integrated photonics through the investment of our first two funds, DBV and DBVS.

PhotonPath is a tangible example of how research, industrial vision, and entrepreneurial skill can generate high-impact frontier technologies in Europe”

About PhotonPath

Founded in 2019 as a spin-off from Politecnico di Milano and supported by PoliHub (the university’s deep-tech incubator), PhotonPath is led by co-founder and CEO Douglas Aguiar, Ph.D. Originally from Brazil, Aguiar moved to Italy over a decade ago to pursue his PhD and postdoctoral research.