PhotonVentures, a Dutch deep tech fund aiming to boost Europe’s photonics industry, has closed its second fundraising round with over €15mn — bringing its total capital to €75mn.

The fund targets startups and scaleups developing solutions with photonic chips for a wide range of applications: from data transmission and health diagnostics to smart sensors, AI, AR, and VR.

PhotonVentures will initially invest in 20 early-stage companies with international growth potential. It will focus on Seed to Series A rounds, with investments varying between €1mn and €2.5mn.

The VC firm is a spinoff and strategic partner of PhotonDelta, a manufacturer of photonic microchips and a contributor to the integrated photonics sector in Europe.

PhotonVentures raised €60mn in its first fundraising round last year. Its aim is to reach €100mn for its initial fund by the end of 2024.

“We want to support the photonics industry both in the Netherlands and Europe,” Ewit Roos, General Partner at Photon Ventures, told TNW.

The technology is crucial where light performs essential functions and is used in a wide range of applications, including data communication, sensing, imaging, and defence.

According to Roos, the fund’s benefit is threefold: it provides capital, builds on the knowledge and experience of PhotonDelta and its network, and can work as a driver of further VC investment in the field.

PhotonVentures’s existing portfolio spans across multiple photonics fields and includes startups such as Delta Diagnostics, EFI, and Quix Quantum.