Singapore – Lumai, an AI accelerator startup, has secured more than $10 million in investment designed to advance artificial intelligence and data centre sustainability with optical computing technology.
For this initiative, Constructor Capital spearheaded the funding round, with contributions from IP Group and several new investors, including PhotonVentures, Journey Ventures, LIFTT, Qubits Ventures, State Farm Ventures, and TIS Inc. These funds will be allocated to product development, increasing its team, and expanding operations.
As AI models continue to strain the capabilities of traditional silicon-based computing, said investment further comes in response to the increasing power consumption in data centres caused by these growing demands.
Tim Weil, CEO and co-founder of Lumai, said, “The future of AI demands radical breakthroughs in computing. The cost of current LLMs is unsustainable, and next-generation AI won’t happen without a major shift. Lumai’s innovative optical computing design overcomes the scalability challenges that have held others back and dramatically reduces power consumption, which will drive down the cost of AI.”
Lumai’s technology uses optical processing to address the limitations of traditional computing. This method enhances performance in large language models and transformer-based AI, overcoming the typical scaling challenges associated with optical computing.
In addition, the company also developed a method to perform AI arithmetic operations using optical beams in 3D space, pushing beyond the usual limitations of silicon GPUs and integrated photonics.
Dr. Serg Bell, founder and chairman of Constructor Capital, also shared, “Life and intelligence are a large carbon- and electron-based neural model trained over 2 billion years. Fossil fuels are a byproduct of this evolution, and they may not generate enough energy to create a better model if we continue using electron-based computation.”
“We need more efficient, faster energy sources for the next generation of humanity’s neocortex: artificial general intelligence. Photons are the only known choice. Lumai’s technology is a significant step forward in improving matrix multiplication, similar to the advancements quantum computers offer for other computational scenarios,” he added.
Dr. Lee Thornton, partner for deep tech at IP Group, also commented, “Having solved the challenges of optical compute to provide a low-cost, scalable solution, Lumai’s technology has the potential to transform the future of AI. We are proud to continue supporting Lumai as it embarks on the next phase of its journey.”
Meanwhile, Ewit Roos, General Partner at PhotonVentures, remarked, “Lumai isn’t just innovating — it is fundamentally reshaping the future of AI compute. Lumai presents one of the most compelling opportunities in next-generation data centre technology, positioning it at the forefront of the AI revolution.”
