# Ashish Vengsarkar

> Ashish Vengsarkar is an electrical engineer, repeat startup builder and crossword constructor who leads nEye.ai, a Santa Clara semiconductor company developing optical circuit switches for AI data centers. His three-decade career runs from fiber-optics research at Bell Labs through Photuris and Nistica, a leadership role in Google's global networking group, and now the effort to move nEye's chip-scale optical switching technology from research into high-volume manufacturing.

- **Role:** Chief Executive Officer at nEye.ai
- **Organizations:** nEye.ai, Google Cloud, Molex, Nistica, Photuris, Nokia Bell Labs, Bell Labs, Maker Bhavan Foundation
- **Education:** B.Tech. in Electrical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering / Fiber Optics, Virginia Tech, Executive MBA; Palmer Scholar, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
- **Known for:** Holds 35 patents, according to nEye.ai’s official biography., Has published more than 100 peer-reviewed journal papers, according to nEye.ai., Founded or helped found optical-networking startups including Photuris and Nistica.

## Career timeline

- **1991** — Began his professional career at Bell Labs, researching optical networking and fiber transmission.
- **2000** — Co-founded optical-systems startup Photuris and served in product-management and marketing leadership.
- **2004** — Photuris closed after the telecom downturn; its assets were sold, and Vengsarkar said the sale helped preserve jobs.
- **2005-2006** — Founded Nistica with former Photuris and Bell Labs colleagues and became its CEO.
- **2010** — Nistica entered a strategic investment partnership with NTT Electronics alongside Fujikura.
- **2012** — Fujikura agreed to acquire Nistica, with the founders and key employees continuing the company’s work.
- **2018** — Molex acquired Nistica’s business and integrated it into the Molex Optical Solutions Group.
- **2020-2024** — Worked at Google on optical networking and routing platforms, including as a director in Google Cloud’s Global Networking group.
- **2025** — Joined nEye.ai as chief executive officer.
- **2026** — Announced nEye.ai’s $80 million Series C led by Sutter Hill Ventures, bringing company-reported total funding to $152 million.

## Achievements

- Holds 35 patents, according to nEye.ai’s official biography.
- Has published more than 100 peer-reviewed journal papers, according to nEye.ai.
- Founded or helped found optical-networking startups including Photuris and Nistica.
- Led Nistica through strategic investment, acquisition by Fujikura and later acquisition by Molex.
- Worked in Google Cloud’s Global Networking group on one of the world’s largest fiber-optic networks.
- Has published 19 crossword puzzles in The New York Times, with a debut in 2006 and the nineteenth appearing in 2022.
- Raised more than $100 million across Series A through C rounds over his startup career, according to nEye.ai.
- Serves as secretary of Maker Bhavan Foundation, which supports hands-on STEM education.

## Latest updates

- **2026-04** — nEye.ai raised an $80 million Series C led by Sutter Hill Ventures, bringing its announced total funding to $152 million; Stefan Dyckerhoff joined the board.
- **2025-07** — nEye.ai joined Google, Nvidia and Microsoft in the Open Compute Project’s Open OCS effort.
- **2025-04** — Vengsarkar announced that he had joined nEye.ai as CEO; the company also announced a $58 million Series B led by CapitalG.

## Links

- Website: https://www.neye.ai/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashish-vengsarkar/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/ashish-vengsarkar
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-08-18