Amazon Backs Programmable Optical Startup Lumotive

Programmable Optical Startup Lemotive We’ve added several more strategic supporters to our recent Series B round.

Based in Redmond, Washington, Lumotive has resumed its recent Series B funding round, introducing the Amazon Industrial Innovation Fund and the ITHCA Group, the technology investment arm of Oman’s sovereign wealth funds.

These fresh funds increased the company’s Series B round to $59 million from the $45 million Lumotive, which was first shut down in February. The startup has raised over $100 million in venture capital to date.

Lumotive CEO Sam Heidari told TechCrunch that the startup saw a lot of demand for attending more rounds than he initially predicted. The company had left the investor, but he said it would make sense to open it for the ITHCA group and Amazon.

“Amazon, it has a lot of strategic value for us,” Haidari said. “We’re more grateful for the relationship than the money.”

Lumotive’s light-controlled metastol solid-state chip consists of nanoscale pixels that can be controlled electronically to bend and manipulate light. These chips have a variety of use cases, from self-driving cars where self-driving cars sense their surroundings, to offering less cost-effective alternatives to LIDAR, to optical switching in locations such as data centers.

“This is a paradigm shift in the ability to manipulate light electronically,” Haidali said. “You can shape the light, mix the light, form the beams as you want, and concentrate the light electronically. Basically, you can do what mirrors and motors do today.”

Founded in 2018, the company began selling chips in 2024, saying it had intentionally focused on its list of customers. Haidari said fresh cash will help expand sales and marketing and help invest more money in research and development.

“It’s no longer a science project,” Haidari said of Lumotive’s technology. “It’s a proven technology in this field. We knew there was a great demand for it. It can work, not only work, but it can work in a deployable way.”