# Lightelligence

Startup profile on Capital Atlas: https://capitalatlas.ai/startups/lightelligence-2

- Industry: Electronics
- Headquarters: Shanghai, China
- Website: www.xztech.ai/
- Total disclosed funding: $100M
- Latest round: Series C (Sep 4, 2025)
- Investors on record: 14

## About

Based in Shanghai, China and founded in 2017, Shanghai Xizhi Technology Co., Ltd., trading under the name Lightelligence, provides photonic integrated computing solutions for the artificial intelligence industry. The company was established by a team of researchers from MIT and Columbia University who developed the world's first photonic chip prototype board. In April 2026, the company was listed on the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd. (HKEX) under the ticker "1879".

The company focuses on the research and development of photonic computing technologies and AI chips. The company's core technologies include photonic matrix computation (oMAC), on-chip photonic network (oNOC), and inter-chip photonic network (oNET). These technologies are utilized to create photonic computing and photonic network product lines. Lightelligence collaborates closely with clients in various fields such as big data, cloud computing, finance, autonomous driving, biomedicine, and material research.

The company generates revenue from B2B contracts for the commercial sale of photonic computing hardware, AI chip technologies, and integrated optical interconnect solutions to industries requiring high-performance computing capabilities.

The company plans to use the proceeds from the IPO to research and develop next-generation optical interconnect hardware, including co-packaged optics (CPO) and near-packaged optics (NPO), while accelerating the commercialization of the PACE 3 optical computing chip for generative AI applications.

## Funding rounds

- Series C, Sep 4, 2025, $0.2M — China Reform Holdings, Casstar Capital, Yijing Investment, China Mobile Communications Group, Pudong Venture Capital, Shanghai State-owned Capital Investment
- Series B, Jul 30, 2021, $63M — Tencent Investment
- Series A, Jul 6, 2020 — CTC Capital
- Series A, Apr 8, 2020, $26M — China International Capital Corporation, Frees Fund, Vertex Ventures China, Baidu Ventures, MPC, Casstar Capital, China Merchants Venture Investment Management
- Seed, Mar 1, 2018, $11M — Frees Fund, Baidu Ventures

## Investors

- Frees Fund (https://capitalatlas.ai/funds/frees-fund) — Seed, Series A
- Baidu Ventures (https://capitalatlas.ai/funds/baidu-ventures) — Seed, Series A
- China International Capital Corporation (https://capitalatlas.ai/funds/china-international-capital-corporation) — Series A
- Vertex Ventures China (https://capitalatlas.ai/funds/vertex-ventures-china) — Series A
- MPC — Series A
- Casstar Capital (https://capitalatlas.ai/funds/casstar-capital) — Series A, Series C
- China Merchants Venture Investment Management (https://capitalatlas.ai/funds/china-merchants-venture-investment-management) — Series A
- CTC Capital (https://capitalatlas.ai/funds/ctc-capital) — Series A
- Tencent Investment — Series B
- China Reform Holdings (https://capitalatlas.ai/funds/china-reform-holdings) — Series C
- Yijing Investment (https://capitalatlas.ai/funds/yijing-investment) — Series C
- China Mobile Communications Group — Series C
- Pudong Venture Capital (https://capitalatlas.ai/funds/pudong-venture-capital) — Series C
- Shanghai State-owned Capital Investment — Series C