Salience Labs and the EIC Accelerator: From AI Chip to Switches
Salience Labs, spun out of the universities of Oxford and Münster in 2021 and led by CEO Vaysh Kewada, was founded to build processors that combine photonics and electronics for artificial intelligence. In June 2022 the EIC Accelerator selected it for a grant for PACIFIC, "the first massively parallel hybrid photonic / electronic accelerator chip for artificial intelligence inference applications", according to the EIC's list of selected companies. No project for this award appears on CORDIS.
In May 2022 the company raised $11.5 million in seed funding for that processor. By February 2025 it had changed course: its $30 million Series A, led by Applied Ventures and the ICM HPQC Fund, was "to accelerate development of its silicon photonics switches for AI datacentre connectivity", according to its news page. Its 2025 accounts at Companies House show accumulated losses rising from £8.9 million to £16.7 million and cash and short-term investments of £17.0 million, and say "further funding will be required".
Company file
- Legal entity
- Salience Labs Ltd, company no. 13034188, Thame, Oxfordshire
- Incorporated
- 20 November 2020
- CEO
- Vaysh Kewada
- Original product
- Hybrid photonic-electronic AI processor
- Current product
- All-optical silicon photonic circuit switches
- Series A leads
- Applied Ventures, ICM HPQC Fund
- EIC award
- PACIFIC, June 2022 cut-off, grant only
Where Salience Labs Stands Now
In 2026 Salience Labs announced a manufacturing partnership with Tower Semiconductor in February, launched a 32-port all-optical silicon photonic switch in March and worked with Keysight on a testing environment for optical circuit switches. In September it showed a 64-port switch at the ECOC exhibition in Málaga. Companies House records new share allotments in March and June 2026; the amounts are not stated in the filings list.
The record
From photonic AI chip to optical data centre switch
Salience Labs was selected for an EIC grant in 2022 to build a hybrid photonic chip for AI inference. No project for the award appears on CORDIS, and by 2026 the company was selling optical circuit switches for AI data centres instead.
- Nov 2020Salience Labs Ltd incorporatedSpin-out of Oxford and Münster universities
- May 2022Seed roundPhotonic processor for AI$11.5M
- Jun 2022EIC Accelerator cut-offPACIFIC inference chipgrant only
- Feb 2025Series AApplied Ventures and ICM HPQC Fund lead; optical switches$30M
- Feb 2026Tower SemiconductorManufacturing partnership
- Mar 202632-port switch launchedAll-optical silicon photonic switch
- Sep 202664-port demoShown at ECOC in Málaga
EIC, optics.org, Companies House and Salience Labs.
"The world needs ever faster chips to grow AI capability, but the semiconductor industry cannot keep pace with this demand."
Vaysh Kewada, CEO, Salience Labs, May 2022The Technology: Light Instead of Electrons
The original design mapped photonic processing directly on top of the chip's SRAM memory, an "on-memory compute" architecture meant to be made in standard CMOS foundries, optics.org reported in 2022. The switches Salience sells now apply silicon photonics to networking in AI data centres, which it describes as all-optical switching.
The money
Venture funding raised by Salience Labs
Announced equity rounds. The EIC grant amount is not published because the award has no CORDIS record.
optics.org, May 2022; Salience Labs, February 2025. Values in $ millions.
What the EIC Project Promised, and What CORDIS Shows
The runway
Cash and short-term investments at year end
Cash at bank plus current asset investments. The directors state that further funding will be required.
Companies House, Salience Labs Ltd 13034188, accounts to 31 December 2025. Values in £ millions.
The award was for an AI inference accelerator chip. CORDIS has no grant agreement for it, so there is no budget, work plan or report to check. The company's announcements since 2025 are about switches, not inference chips.
- Grant agreement on CORDISAbsentNo record found.
- Photonic inference chipUnverifiedNo longer marketed.
- Follow-on fundingDelivered$30M Series A.
- Product launchDelivered32-port switch, 2026.
The Money
Salience files small-company accounts without a profit and loss account, so its revenue is not public. The 2025 balance sheet shows £5.8 million of new share premium, £399,700 of trade debtors where there were none a year earlier, and a workforce that grew from 23 to 33. The auditor's report is unqualified.
The accounts
Accumulated losses at year end
The deficit on the profit and loss reserve grew by £7.8 million in 2025, while the average workforce rose from 23 to 33.
Companies House, Salience Labs Ltd balance sheet. Values in £ millions.
What Cannot Be Checked
Questions for the EIC
Whether Salience Labs signed a grant agreement for PACIFIC, how much was paid and by whom, what was built with it and whether the EIC approved the move from inference chips to switches are not public.
Why Europe Should Care
Optical networking for AI data centres is the market Salience now targets, with Tower Semiconductor as its manufacturing partner. The EIC selected it for a different product. Without a project record, European taxpayers cannot see what their support bought.
What the award promised
The first massively parallel hybrid photonic-electronic chip for AI inference.
What the record shows
A pivot to optical circuit switches, a $30 million Series A and no EU project record.
The Verdict
Growing, but on another product
Salience Labs is funded and has launched switches. The inference chip the EIC selected has left its public story, and the award itself left no trace on CORDIS.
Salience Labs and the EIC have not been asked for comment for this article. It is based entirely on public records and published statements, linked throughout.
Industry
Electronics and semiconductorsPhotonics
- Focus
- Optical components
- Technologies
- Photonic integrated circuits
- Keywords
- Optical circuit switching
- AI data centres
- Photonic computing