Amazon backs programmable optics startup Lumotive

Programmable optics startup Lumotive has added a few more strategic backers to its recent Series B round.

Redmond, Washington-based Lumotive reopened its recent Series B funding round to bring in Amazon, through its Amazon Industrial Innovation Fund, and ITHCA Group, the technology investment arm of Oman’s sovereign wealth fund, as investors.

These fresh funds bring the company’s Series B round to $59 million, up from the $45 million Lumotive initially closed in February. The startup has raised more than $100 million in venture capital to date.

Lumotive CEO Sam Heidari told TechCrunch that the startup saw a lot more demand for participating in the round than he initially predicted. While the company had turned away some investors, he said it made sense to open it back up for ITHCA Group and Amazon.

“Amazon, it has a lot of strategic value for us,” Heidari said. “We do appreciate the relationship more than the money.”

Lumotive’s Light Control Metasurface solid-state chips are made up of nano-scale pixels that can be controlled electronically to bend and manipulate light. These chips have a variety of use cases, from autonomous vehicles sensing their surroundings, offering a smaller more cost-effective alternative to Lidar, to optical switching in places like data centers.

“It is a paradigm shift of being able to manipulate the light electronically,” Heidari said. “Being able to shape the light, to stir the light, to form the beams the way you want it, to focus the light electronically. We are able to, basically, do what mirrors and motors do today, to work around the lights.”

Founded in 2018, the company started selling its chips in 2024, and says it has purposefully kept its list of customers small and focused. Heidari said the fresh cash will help it expand sales and marketing, and put more money towards research and development.

“It is not a science project anymore,” Heidari said about Lumotive’s tech. “It’s a proven technology in the field. We knew that there is a big demand for it. Not only can it work, it can work in a deployable fashion.”