Valencia-based iPronics is a deep-tech company developing programmable optical networking technology for AI infrastructure and data centres. Founded in 2019 as a spin-off of the Universitat Politècnica de València, the company develops silicon-photonics-based optical circuit switching designed to allow data-centre networks to reconfigure connections dynamically.
Its flagship iPronics Optical Networking Engine, or ONE, provides a programmable optical layer for AI infrastructure. The technology is aimed at one of the major challenges created by increasingly large AI systems: connecting computing resources efficiently as AI clusters become more demanding in terms of bandwidth, power and connectivity.
This post covers:
- iPronics’ September 2026 $125 million Series B
- The investors participating in the latest round
- Previous private financing
- European public funding supporting the technology
- iPronics’ funding roadmap from research to commercialisation
- What its funding journey shows deep-tech entrepreneurs
iPronics’ September 2026 Series B
On 2 September 2026, iPronics announced a $125 million Series B, co-led by Maverick Silicon and Light Street Capital. NVIDIA joined the round alongside new and existing investors including Triatomic Capital, Bosch Ventures, Catalight Capital, the European Innovation Council Fund, The Tate Family Trust, Fine Structure Ventures, Amadeus Capital Partners, Build Collective and Criteria Venture Tech. The company said the Series B brings its total funding to $177 million.
The financing is intended to accelerate commercial deployment, expand operations and support market expansion. iPronics is also planning to increase its commercial capacity and develop more compact versions of its optical networking technology.
The participation of NVIDIA is particularly notable because it connects iPronics to the wider AI infrastructure ecosystem. The company’s technology is positioned around the networking bottleneck created by the rapid growth of AI computing clusters.
iPronics’ funding roadmap
Unlike a conventional software startup, iPronics has combined venture capital with significant public innovation funding during its development.
January 2022 — €2.5 million EIC Transition grant: iPronics received an EIC Transition grant for its INSPIRE project. The company said the two-year project would receive €2.5 million and support applications including data-centre switching engines, hardware accelerators and other programmable photonics applications.
July 2022 — €3.7 million private investment: Amadeus Capital Partners led a €3.7 million investment, with participation from Caixa Capital Risc. At the time, iPronics described its technology as a programmable photonic processor capable of applications including data centres, 5G, deep learning and other computational workloads.
January 2025 — €20 million Series A: iPronics raised a €20 million Series A to advance optical networking for next-generation AI data centres. Its investor base included Triatomic Capital, Fine Structure Ventures, Bosch Ventures, Amadeus Capital Partners and Criteria Venture Tech.
September 2026 — $125 million Series B: Maverick Silicon and Light Street Capital co-led the financing, with NVIDIA and a broad group of new and existing investors participating. Total reported funding reached $177 million.
iPronics has therefore combined public innovation funding, early private investment and increasingly large venture rounds as its technology moved from research and development towards commercial deployment.
What iPronics’ funding journey shows
1. Public funding can help bridge deep-tech development
The EIC Transition grant is an important part of iPronics’ story because it supported the company at a stage when the technology was moving from research towards commercial applications.
For deep-tech founders, this demonstrates why public funding should not automatically be viewed as an alternative to private investment. Grants can support technology development and validation, potentially reducing the technological risk that investors face later.
2. Private capital can take over as commercialisation accelerates
After the EIC Transition funding, iPronics raised €3.7 million from private investors and subsequently a €20 million Series A. The latest $125 million Series B is substantially larger again and is focused on scaling commercial deployment.
This progression illustrates a common deep-tech funding pattern: capital requirements can increase significantly as a company moves from laboratory development into manufacturing, customer deployment and international expansion.
3. Funding milestones should correspond to technology milestones
iPronics’ rounds align with major stages in its development: programmable photonics research, product development, optical networking for AI infrastructure and finally commercial scale.
For entrepreneurs, this is a useful reminder that a funding round should have a clear relationship with what the company expects to accomplish next.
4. Strategic investors can strengthen a scaling story
The participation of NVIDIA in the 2026 Series B adds an important strategic dimension to iPronics’ investor base. Alongside venture capital firms and existing investors, the company now has support from a major player in the AI infrastructure ecosystem.
For founders, the lesson is that the best investor is not necessarily the one offering the largest cheque. Strategic relevance, industry knowledge, commercial relationships and technical expertise can also matter.
Building your own funding roadmap
iPronics demonstrates how public and private funding can work together across different stages of a deep-tech company’s development. Grants helped support technology development, while venture capital subsequently financed product development, commercialisation and international scaling.
FundingTrip can help entrepreneurs understand how these financing routes can fit together. Its funding courses cover different funding opportunities and help founders develop a more structured approach to grants, investment and fundraising. Explore the FundingTrip courses to start building your own funding roadmap.
About the author of this post
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Sara Gavidia
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Hello! I’m Sara 👋🏻
I’m FundingTrip’s Content creator. I write posts about technology, funding and innovation. If you liked this one, subscribe to our newsletter to receive more updates!
Post reviewed by David Arias, funding expert.
