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Morphotonics raises €40M to expand into data center optics and semiconductor packaging
The Dutch deeptech company, founded by former Philips engineers, is betting that nanoimprint lithography can reshape how optical components are manufactured at scale.
Morphotonics, a Netherlands-based deeptech firm specializing in nanoimprint lithography, has raised €40M from a consortium of investors including 3M Ventures, Innovation Industries, BOM (Brabant Development Agency), and Invest-NL. The capital will fund the company’s push into data center optics, a market that’s ballooning alongside the insatiable compute demands of AI infrastructure.
For a company with roughly 50 to 60 employees operating out of Veldhoven, the same Dutch city where ASML builds its world-shaping chip machines, this is a meaningful war chest.
What Morphotonics actually does
The company’s core product is a roll-to-plate nanoimprint lithography system. Think of it like a high-tech printing press, but instead of ink on paper, it stamps trillions of microscopic structures onto substrates as large as 1.1 by 1.3 meters. Those structures become optical components: lenses, prisms, waveguides, and other pieces that manipulate light at the nano scale.
Morphotonics’ founders cut their teeth at Philips in optical disc manufacturing, and the company has borrowed techniques from that world for its R2P approach.
The applications span several industries. Display optics for screens and 3D interfaces. Waveguides for augmented reality smart glasses. And now, increasingly, optical interconnects for data centers, where photonics is replacing copper to move data faster with less energy.
From Series B to scale-up
The €40M round builds on momentum from a Series B first closing in September 2024, which brought in over $10M (roughly €9M) from 3M Ventures, Innovation Industries, and BOM. That earlier tranche was earmarked for automating the company’s nanoimprint operations and beginning its pivot toward semiconductor packaging.
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Hugo da Silva took over as CEO in October 2024, and under his leadership, Morphotonics reported revenue growth of three to four times year-over-year in 2025.
The fresh capital is aimed at scaling manufacturing capacity, expanding the team, and deepening the company’s presence in two adjacent markets: data center optics and advanced semiconductor packaging.
Why data center optics matters now
Morphotonics has also been building out its international footprint. The company has opened an office in China and established a contract manufacturing network.
Its partnership with Leia, a company focused on 3D display technology, provides a commercial anchor in the consumer electronics space.
With 3M Ventures on the cap table, the company gains a strategic partner with deep expertise in materials science and manufacturing at scale.
Invest-NL’s participation adds a sovereign investment dimension. The Dutch state-backed fund has been selectively deploying capital into companies it considers strategically important for Europe’s tech independence, particularly in semiconductors and photonics.