Ephos

In September 2024, Ephos, a leading producer of glass-based photonic chips, raised $8.5 million in seed funding and opened the world's first facility dedicated to designing and producing glass-based photonic chips in Milan. Ephos' proprietary technology designs and builds glass-based photonic chips offering best-in-class performance for signal loss, a critical advantage in building quantum computers. The company's novel 3D design and manufacturing capabilities unlock unique scaling opportunities and computational modalities that enable better system performance. The funding round was led by Starlight Ventures, with participation from notable investors including Joe Zadeh (former Vice President at Airbnb), Diego Piacentini (former Senior Vice President at Amazon), and Simone Severini (General Manager of Quantum Technologies at Amazon Web Services). Glass-based photonic chips have far-reaching implications beyond quantum computing, with applications in data centers where they can reduce energy footprints.