Wave Photonics and the EIC Accelerator: Design Kits for Light Chips
Wave Photonics, incorporated in Cambridge in 2021, builds process design kits, the component libraries and models that designers use to lay out photonic integrated circuits for a particular foundry and wavelength, using its own design technology to make them tolerant of manufacturing variation. Photonic chips carry signals as light, for datacentre links, sensors and quantum computers. The company was selected in the EIC Accelerator's March 2023 cut-off for a grant-only award for "the platform to unleash the transformative potential of integrated photonics", according to Wave Photonics. As a UK company, its project does not appear in CORDIS, so the grant amount, goals and reports are not public.
In June 2024 Wave Photonics raised £4.5 million in a seed round led by the UK Innovation & Science Seed Fund and Cambridge Enterprise, "complemented by non-dilutive funding via EIC and Innovate UK grants", taking total funding to £5.4 million, according to Wave Photonics. In March 2025 it acquired the intellectual property of Phoelex, including modulator and driver circuit designs for optical interconnects, and in 2025 it launched a PDK Management Platform with the CORNERSTONE foundry as first user, according to Optica.
Company file
- Legal entity
- Wave Photonics Ltd, company no. 13421535, Cambridge Science Park
- Products
- Custom PDKs, PDK Management Platform, design services
- Seed investors
- UKI2S, Cambridge Enterprise, Redstone and QAI Quantum Fund, Kyra Ventures, Deep Tech Labs
- Tool partners
- Synopsys, Cadence, Siemens, Luceda
- Acquisition
- Phoelex chiplet IP, 2025
- Accounts
- Abridged, no profit and loss published
- EIC funding
- Grant only
Where Wave Photonics Stands Now
Wave Photonics employed 14 people on average in the year to May 2025, up from 10, and its equity fell from £2.05 million to £1.32 million, according to accounts filed at Companies House. Its fixed assets rose from £26,109 to £297,644 in the same year, the period of the Phoelex acquisition. Its news page lists a steady stream of integrations with design tools from Synopsys, Cadence and Siemens, foundry partnerships and a project with Cardiff University on the UK's first gallium nitride photonic process. Revenue is not public.
The record
From Cambridge start-up to a photonics design platform
Wave Photonics was selected for an EIC grant in 2023. As a UK company its project is not in CORDIS. Since then it has raised a seed round, bought chiplet IP and launched a platform for managing photonic design kits.
- May 2021Company incorporatedCambridge
- Mar 2023EIC Accelerator cut-offWave Photonicsgrant only
- Jun 2023EIC selection announcedGrant funding
- Jun 2024Seed round£4.5M, led by UKI2S and Cambridge Enterprise
- Mar 2025Buys Phoelex chiplet IPOptical interconnects
- 2025PDK Management PlatformCORNERSTONE first user
Companies House, Wave Photonics and Optica.
"This investment will enable the company to take its technology from a research manufacturing line to a commercial foundry, with a particular focus on solutions for frontier applications such as quantum technologies and biosensing."
Wave Photonics, on its seed round, June 2024The Technology: Making Photonic Chips Easier to Design
Photonic chip designers depend on a foundry's design kit, which describes what structures its process can reliably make. Wave Photonics generates kits for new materials and wavelengths in weeks, it says, and its platform connects them to the design software engineers already use. Its quantum design kit covers wavelengths from 493 nm to 1,550 nm.
The team
Average employees by financial year
Wave Photonics grew from one employee in its first year to 14 in the year to May 2025.
Accounts filed at Companies House. Years ending 31 May. Employees.
What the EIC Award Promised, and What the Record Shows
The award promised a platform for integrated photonics. The company has launched such a platform and grown its product range, which matches the aim. Because the project is outside CORDIS, its budget, milestones and results cannot be compared with what was delivered.
- Public project recordNoneNot in CORDIS.
- Design kit platformLaunched2025, CORNERSTONE first.
- EDA integrationsDeliveredSynopsys, Cadence, Siemens.
- Commercial scaleUnverifiedRevenue not public.
The Money
The EIC grant amount is not public; the company counts it within its £5.4 million total funding to mid-2024. Equity fell by about £724,000 in the year to May 2025, a rough guide to spending beyond income. No round since the 2024 seed has been announced.
The balance sheet
Equity at year end
Equity jumped after the 2024 seed round and fell by about £724,000 in the following year. The company files abridged accounts without a profit and loss statement.
Accounts filed at Companies House. Years ending 31 May. Values in £ thousands.
What Cannot Be Checked
Questions for the EIC
How much Wave Photonics received and from which body, what the project was meant to deliver, how many foundries and designers pay for its products, and its revenue are not public.
Why Europe Should Care
Photonic chips matter for AI datacentres and quantum computers. Tools that make them easier to design for help the whole industry. Wave Photonics is building that layer from Cambridge; the EIC's part in it is not documented publicly.
What the award promised
A platform to unlock the potential of integrated photonics.
What the record shows
A launched design kit platform, a £4.5M seed round, and no public EIC project record.
The Verdict
Progress, but no paper trail
Wave Photonics has built products and attracted investors. What the EIC grant specifically delivered cannot be judged from the public record.
Wave Photonics 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
- Photonic design tools
- Technologies
- Photonic integrated circuits
- Semiconductor design
- Keywords
- Process design kits
- Quantum chips
- Foundries
- Chiplets