SCINTIL Photonics and the EIC Accelerator: Lasers on Silicon for AI

AI data centres move data between processors, and a growing share of it travels as light. SCINTIL Photonics, founded in Grenoble to commercialise technology developed at the French research institute CEA-Leti, integrates indium phosphide lasers and amplifiers onto standard silicon photonic chips made in commercial foundries.

SCINTIL was selected for the EIC Accelerator in the October 2021 round with its DOLPHIN project, and the EIC Fund lists it as a portfolio company. No DOLPHIN grant project appears in the EU's CORDIS database, so what the grant part of the award paid for cannot be checked. In September 2025 SCINTIL raised $58 million, with NVIDIA taking part.

Where SCINTIL Stands Today

SCINTIL's product is LEAF Light, which it calls "the world's first single-chip, DWDM-native laser source", a chip that produces many wavelengths of light at once for co-packaged optics next to AI processors. In February 2025 it and the foundry Tower Semiconductor announced the availability of these heterogeneously integrated lasers, and in March 2025 it released an evaluation kit. The September 2025 Series B of $58 million (€50 million) was led by Yotta Capital Partners and NGP Capital, with NVIDIA, BNP Paribas Développement and existing investors, to "move to full-scale deployment", hire in France and the US and support high-volume production. French register data record revenue of zero and a net loss of €2.76 million for 2025.

The Technology: Lasers Built Into the Chip

SCINTIL's SHIP process, according to the company, "combines the best of silicon and indium phosphide photonics": indium phosphide, which can emit light, is bonded onto silicon photonic circuits so lasers and amplifiers sit on one chip, made in commercial semiconductor foundries. The EIC Fund describes it as a "fabless company developing silicon photonics with integrated lasers and optical amplifiers for high-speed optical interconnects in data centers, HPC, and 5G infrastructure".

What the EIC Project Promised, and What the Record Shows

DOLPHIN stands for "Disruptive OpticaL Engines with PHotonic fully INtegrated Circuits for Optical Communications". The award was blended finance, a grant plus equity. The EIC Fund portfolio page confirms the equity side. We could not find the grant side: no DOLPHIN project with SCINTIL as coordinator appears in the CORDIS Horizon Europe data, where SCINTIL shows up only as a participant in the separate PROMETHEUS research project. Its January 2022 announcement did not give the amounts.

1. Integrated optical enginesCompany-reportedLEAF Light and evaluation kit, 2025; no CORDIS grant record.
2. Foundry productionPartialWith Tower; volume not shown.
3. Private follow-on capitalDelivered$58M Series B.
4. Reported grant resultsNot shownNo CORDIS project found.

What Has Happened Since the Award

The Money

SCINTIL raised €4 million in 2020 and €13.5 million in June 2022 in a round led by Robert Bosch Venture Capital, bringing its total to €17.5 million, followed by an undisclosed investment from Applied Ventures and ITIC later in 2022 and the $58 million Series B. The EIC Fund's stake and the EIC grant amount are not public.

Why Europe Should Care

NVIDIA, whose processors dominate AI data centres, invested in SCINTIL in 2025. A Grenoble chip company built on French public research, with the EU as an investor, is a European stake in that supply chain. The missing grant record means the public cannot see what the grant paid for.

The Verdict

SCINTIL Photonics has not been asked for comment for this article. It is based entirely on company statements, EU data and the French company register, linked throughout.