PINC Technologies, a Caltech spinout developing advanced integrated nonlinear photonic devices and circuits, announced the close of its Seed+ financing round, bringing total funds raised to date to $6.8 million. The funding marks a major milestone for the young company as it accelerates efforts to commercialize its cutting-edge technology, which is rooted in years of pioneering research from the Caltech Nonlinear Photonics Laboratory.
The Seed+ round was led by Quantonation, a leading venture capital firm dedicated to quantum technologies. The financing also attracted participation from a strong syndicate of investors, including Wilson Hill Ventures, Freeflow Ventures, Hamamatsu Ventures, Qubits Ventures, Santec, and the Caltech Seed Fund.
Unlocking the Potential of Nonlinear Photonics
Photonics has long been recognized as a transformative field for enabling faster, more efficient computing, sensing, and communications systems. However, its potential has been constrained by the limited scalability of nonlinear solutions—those that allow light to interact with itself in ways critical for advanced applications.
Nonlinear photonics is essential for breakthroughs in areas such as quantum computing, secure communications, precision biomedical diagnostics, and next-generation data networks. Yet until now, scaling these nonlinear systems from the laboratory to real-world industrial and commercial environments has proven elusive.
PINC Technologies is addressing this challenge head-on by developing a platform that makes nonlinear photonics scalable, practical, and deployable. By integrating nonlinear devices and circuits into compact, manufacturable systems, PINC is positioning itself to unlock new frontiers across industries.
A Platform for the Quantum Era
The company’s technology stems from groundbreaking research at Caltech, where scientists have made major advances in integrating nonlinear optical components into scalable architectures. Building on this foundation, PINC is now translating these discoveries into commercially viable products.
“Our vision at PINC is to bring nonlinear photonics out of the lab and into industry,” said Farzaneh Afshinmanesh, CEO and Co-founder of PINC Technologies. “With this new funding, we can scale our engineering team, accelerate product development, and foster collaborations that enable entirely new capabilities across industrial photonics, quantum information processing, advanced communications, and biomedical sensing.”
The company aims to deliver technologies that can process and manipulate light with unprecedented precision, speed, and efficiency—capabilities that will be vital in the coming quantum and data-driven era.
Strong Backing From Leading Investors
For Quantonation, which specializes in investing in startups pushing the boundaries of quantum and photonic technologies, PINC represents a critical enabler for the broader ecosystem.
“Quantonation is excited to lead this round for PINC Technologies,” said Christophe Jurczack, Managing Partner at Quantonation. “The company’s integrated nonlinear photonic platform is a key enabling technology for the quantum era. We believe PINC has the potential to become a cornerstone in both the photonics and quantum technology landscapes.”
The syndicate of investors supporting PINC reflects broad confidence in both the company’s scientific foundation and its commercial prospects. Notably, the involvement of strategic players such as Hamamatsu Ventures and Santec, both with deep expertise in photonics and optical technologies, further validates the market need and industrial potential of PINC’s innovations.
Meeting Surging Market Demand
The timing of PINC’s emergence is critical. Demand for photonic solutions is surging across multiple industries:
- Quantum technologies are entering an era where scalability and reliability are essential for commercialization.
- Data networks face unprecedented growth in bandwidth demand, requiring faster, more efficient photonic infrastructure.
- Biomedical diagnostics increasingly rely on precision photonics for non-invasive, high-resolution sensing.
- Industrial applications demand more compact and efficient photonic systems for manufacturing and automation.
By tackling the longstanding bottleneck of nonlinear scalability, PINC is uniquely positioned to serve as a foundational technology provider across these sectors.
A Caltech Legacy in Action
As a spinout from Caltech, PINC reflects the institution’s long-standing reputation for pushing the boundaries of science and engineering. The Nonlinear Photonics Laboratory at Caltech has been at the forefront of fundamental research, and PINC is now taking the crucial step of turning those scientific breakthroughs into commercial technologies.
The company’s mission aligns with a broader vision: to enable scalable, real-world applications of light-based technologies that can reshape industries from healthcare to communications.
Looking Ahead
With $6.8 million in funding secured, PINC will focus on scaling its engineering team, advancing product prototypes, and building strategic partnerships with early adopters across quantum technology, healthcare, and telecommunications.
The company plans to announce additional collaborations and product development milestones in the coming year as it moves toward bringing its nonlinear photonics platform into commercial deployment.
“Nonlinear photonics has remained a largely untapped frontier due to scalability challenges,” Afshinmanesh added. “At PINC, we’re building the solutions to overcome these limitations and make the extraordinary capabilities of light available at scale.”
About PINC Technologies
Founded in 2023 and based in Pasadena, CA, PINC Technologies Inc. develops integrated nonlinear photonic devices and circuits designed to power the future of quantum technologies, optical communications, and industrial photonics applications. Learn more at https://www.pinctech.com/.
About Quantonation
Quantonation is the first early-stage VC fund dedicated to deep physics and quantum technologies. Fields such as high-performance computation, secure communications, drug design, or ultra-precise sensing are now driven by innovation based on these disruptive technologies. Quantonation aims at supporting their transition into commercially available products. Quantonation is headquartered in Paris, France, and in Boston, USA, with investments in Europe, North America, and Asia-Pacific. More on www.quantonation.com or LinkedIn (https://fr.linkedin.com/company/quantonation).
