# Cspeed

> Cspeed is a Palo Alto optical semiconductor startup building silicon photonics and high-density III-V laser array technology to replace copper interconnects inside large-scale AI clusters. Founded in 2022 and led by serial semiconductor entrepreneur Sanjai Kohli, the company targets the data-movement bottlenecks that limit 'scale-up' AI infrastructure, aiming to deliver fiber-optic connectivity dense and cheap enough for high-volume datacenter deployment.

- **Founded:** 2022
- **Headquarters:** Palo Alto, California, United States
- **Founders:** Sanjai Kohli (CEO / Founder)
- **Team size:** ~54 employees
- **Products:** High-density III-V laser array, Silicon photonics optical interconnect
- **Notable:** Raised roughly $43M from top-tier investors including Sutter Hill Ventures and Valor Equity Partners since founding in 2022, Assembled a senior team with experience from Broadcom, Lumentum, Tesla, Apple, Samsung, Intel and VMware, Developing a high-density III-V laser array positioned as a core enabling component for AI-era optical interconnects

## Products & services

- **High-density III-V laser array** — An integrated, high-density III-V compound-semiconductor laser array designed as the core light source for optical interconnects, engineered for high-volume deployment in AI infrastructure.
- **Silicon photonics optical interconnect** — Optical interconnect and networking solutions that move data between and within AI clusters using silicon photonics rather than copper, targeting the bandwidth, reach and power limits of existing links.

## Achievements

- Raised roughly $43M from top-tier investors including Sutter Hill Ventures and Valor Equity Partners since founding in 2022
- Assembled a senior team with experience from Broadcom, Lumentum, Tesla, Apple, Samsung, Intel and VMware
- Developing a high-density III-V laser array positioned as a core enabling component for AI-era optical interconnects

## Latest updates

- **2024-12** — Reported a $28.3M funding round, bringing cumulative reported funding to roughly $43M.
- **2025-11** — Tracked among notable optical-component startups in industry startup trackers as AI-interconnect investment accelerates.

## Links

- Website: https://cspeed.io
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cspeed-io

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/cspeed-inc
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-07-15