The AI industry’s hunger for computing power pushes silicon-based systems to their limits as we drive toward artificial general intelligence. With U.S. data center power consumption expected to triple by 2028, reaching up to 12% of the country’s power, addressing performance and sustainability has become crucial. Enter Lumai, a University of Oxford spinout using optical processing to accelerate large language models (LLMs) and other transformer-based AI systems.
Lumai has secured over $10 million in investment to tackle these global computational challenges. The funding round was led by Constructor Capital, a VC firm focused on visionary founders in deep tech. Additional support came from existing investor IP Group and new investors PhotonVentures, Journey Ventures, LIFTT, Qubits Ventures, State Farm Ventures, and TIS Inc.
This investment will fuel Lumai’s growth by advancing product development, doubling its workforce, and expanding its U.S. presence.
Behind Lumai: breaking AI’s computational barriers with 3D optical technology
Founded in 2022, Lumai emerged from the University of Oxford through the collaboration of five experts: Tim Weil, Xianxin Guo, Alex Lovsky, Thomas Barrett, and James Spall. The team combines expertise in optical computing, machine learning, and physics.
The founders created Lumai to solve AI’s growing computational challenges. Traditional electronic computing had become a bottleneck for large-scale AI tasks, hampered by energy inefficiency and speed limitations. Their solution: optical processors that use light instead of electrons for computations, enabling faster and more energy-efficient AI operations for both training and inference in neural networks.
Lumai’s breakthrough 3D optical computing technology performs matrix multiplications—neural networks’ core operations—using light beams traveling through three-dimensional space. This innovative design overcomes the limitations of both silicon GPUs and integrated photonics, delivering unprecedented scale and speed.
The company’s hardware integrates optical computing into data centers, powering high-speed, low-latency AI applications across autonomous driving, robotics, drug discovery, and cybersecurity.
Industry recognition has validated Lumai’s potential. The company recently won ‘Best Overall Technology’ at the Global OCP Future Technologies Symposium and was selected in the first cohort of companies to complete Intel Ignite’s London program. Its head of research and co-founder, Dr. Xianxin Guo, was also chosen to join the Royal Academy of Engineering’s prestigious Shott Accelerator 2024 program, while co-founder Dr. James Spall, was selected to join the prestigious Photonics 100 list for 2025.
Luma’s optical innovation promises 90% power savings for AI data centers
Lumai stands out for successfully tackling AI computing limitations through optical processing, overcoming the scalability challenges that have hindered previous attempts.
Tim Weil, CEO and co-founder at Lumai, commented, “The future of AI demands radical breakthroughs in computing. The cost of current LLMs is unsustainable, and next-generation AI won’t happen without a major shift. Lumai’s innovative optical computing design overcomes the scalability challenges that have held others back and dramatically reduces power consumption, which will drive down the cost of AI.”
The technology processes AI’s core arithmetic operations using optical beams in 3D space, surpassing silicon GPU and integrated photonics limitations. Its PCIe form factor and low-cost optical components enable cost-effective, high-performance AI inference, positioning Lumai as a key enabler of AI’s future.
The company’s accelerator promises to reduce AI inference costs to one-tenth of current solutions. The unique design will deliver 50 times the performance of silicon-only accelerators while using just 10% of the power typically required for AI in data centers, reducing both capital costs and total ownership costs.
Dr. Serg Bell, Founder and Chairman of Constructor Capital, noted, “Life and intelligence are a large carbon- and electron-based neural model trained over 2 billion years. Fossil fuels are a byproduct of this evolution, and they may not generate enough energy to create a better model if we continue using electron-based computation. We need more efficient, faster energy sources for the next generation of humanity’s neocortex: Artificial General Intelligence. Photons are the only known choice. Lumai’s technology is a significant step forward in improving matrix multiplication, similar to the advancements quantum computers offer for other computational scenarios.”
Dr. Lee Thornton, partner – deeptech at IP Group, added, “Having solved the challenges of optical compute to provide a low-cost, scalable solution, Lumai’s technology has the potential to transform the future of AI. We are proud to continue supporting Lumai as it embarks on the next phase of its journey.”
“Lumai isn’t just innovating—it is fundamentally reshaping the future of AI compute,” noted Ewit Roos, General Partner of Photon Ventures. “Lumai presents one of the most compelling opportunities in next-generation data center technology, positioning it at the forefront of the AI revolution.”
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