# Ayar Labs

> AI interconnect company making co-packaged optical I/O; completed a $500M Series E at $3.75B in March 2026 and announced a further $150M expansion in September.

## Why it is interesting

The physical bottleneck in large GPU clusters is moving data at useful bandwidth and power. Ayar's optical interconnect technology aims to reduce energy and copper limitations. Crucially, the $650M figure in September is the combined 2026 capital raised, not an additional $650M round. AV lists Ayar in its portfolio but did not identify participation in either named 2026 financing.

## Profile

- **Latest funding:** 2026 funding expansion — $150M incremental; combined 2026 total $650M (September 10, 2026)
- **Latest known valuation:** Not restated in announcement (September 10, 2026)
- **Total disclosed equity funding:** $650M
- **Stage:** growth
- **Status:** private
- **Industries:** hardware-semiconductors, infra-cloud, deep-tech, ai-ml
- **Coverage:** full
- **Last updated:** 2026-10-29

## Key facts

- March 3, 2026: $500M Series E led by Neuberger Berman at $3.75B valuation.
- September 10, 2026: $150M incremental financing; 2026 funding total $650M, not $500M+$650M.
- Company reported approximately $870M total funding in March, prior to September extension.
- Alumni Ventures lists Ayar Labs in APEX 100; no AV round amount or specific 2026 participation disclosed.

## Funding history

- 2026 funding expansion · $150M incremental; combined 2026 total $650M · September 10, 2026
  Source: https://ayarlabs.com/news/ayar-labs-expands-2026-funding-to-650-million
- Series E · $500M · March 3, 2026
  Source: https://ayarlabs.com/news/ayar-labs-closes-500m-series-e-accelerates-volume-production-of-co-packaged-optics/

## Investors in our directory

- https://venturecapitaltracker.com/fund/alumni-ventures
- https://venturecapitaltracker.com/fund/castor-ventures

**By:** [Venture Capital Tracker](https://venturecapitaltracker.com/editorial-policy)
**Last updated:** October 29, 2026

**Editorial note:** AI tools assisted with research, structure, or drafting. Venture Capital Tracker retains human editorial responsibility for factual accuracy, relevance, and source quality before publication.

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Source: https://venturecapitaltracker.com/startup/ayar-labs