German startup Akhetonics has raised €6 million in seed funding to develop a new generation of photonic chips that could revolutionize the field of high-performance computing. The company, founded by Michael Kissner, aims to create general-purpose chips that can be used for a wide range of tasks and software applications, leveraging the power of photonics to deliver faster and more energy-efficient computing.

The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) has created a growing demand for better computing performance, and photonics, which underpins light-based systems for manipulating data, is seen as a key solution. However, despite its potential, photonics has yet to be fully applied to chip development. Akhetonics is looking to change that with its all-optical approach, which promises to deliver high-performance computing while reducing energy consumption.

Unlike analog approaches, Akhetonics' general-purpose chip will be digital and compatible with existing workloads, making it suitable for use in environments that require high-performance in real-time, such as networking, avionics, and space. The company's approach also offers a unique advantage in terms of supply chain diversity, allowing for locally sourced high-performance compute capabilities.

Akhetonics' co-founder and CEO, Michael Kissner, highlighted the significance of this aspect, stating that "for us, the most interesting part is that we have a supply chain that is very diverse." This could be particularly important in the context of chip sovereignty, which has become a growing concern in the industry.

While some observers remain skeptical about the feasibility of general-purpose photonic chips, Matterwave Ventures, the VC firm that led Akhetonics' funding round, believes that the time is right for fully optical technology to be applied to general-purpose computation. "For us, it felt like there are sufficient things that are coming together to make this a reality," said Silviu Apostu, principal at Matterwave Ventures.

Akhetonics plans to deliver its first commercial product to customers mid-next year, with Kissner confident that the company has already confirmed the feasibility of its approach thanks to its previous funding round. The key to Akhetonics' success lies in its ability to rethink the architecture of photonic chips from first principles, allowing it to achieve high-performance computing without the need for billions of optical transistors.

This approach also makes the development process cheaper than for regular chips, which is reflected in the relatively small round size for a chipmaking business. Akhetonics plans to use most of the seed funding to grow its headcount to 30 people as it works towards delivering prototypes to customers.

The company's vision for a more democratized version of high-performance computing has resonated with investors, and Akhetonics is not alone in its pursuit of all-optical chips. Competitors like LightSolver are also working on similar solutions, and the industry is likely to see significant developments in the coming years.

While there are still questions over commercial demand for high-performance computing, Akhetonics' innovative approach and promising technology make it an exciting player to watch in the photonics space.