Photonpath

PhotonPath, an integrated photonics firm headquartered in Milan, Italy, operates as a fabless manufacturer of proprietary photonic integrated circuits (PICs), modules, and complete systems. The company was founded in 2019 by Douglas Aguiar and Emanuele Guglielmi as a spin-off from the Politecnico di Milano. The founders' journey began during their PhD and Post-Doc research, where they co-authored numerous papers on integrated photonics technology, combining Aguiar's background in ultra-low-noise electronics with their shared focus on photonic circuits. Before co-founding the company, Aguiar worked at a major telecom equipment manufacturer in Brazil.

PhotonPath's business model is centered on designing and manufacturing proprietary chipsets and plug-and-play modules that address the limitations of traditional electronics. The company follows a fabless model, collaborating with established supply chain partners to produce its technology. Revenue is generated through the sale of its hardware and software solutions that provide reconfigurable systems for optical transport networks. The firm targets high-demand sectors such as telecommunications, hyperscale data centers, aerospace, and industrial monitoring. Its clientele includes utility companies like Alliander, for whom they've deployed temperature sensor solutions, and partners like automotive braking systems company Brembo and telecom giant Telefónica.

The company's product portfolio is built upon its core proprietary technology, PhotonCore™, a family of fully programmable integrated photonics chipsets. Key products include the NanoOCM Spectrum Analyzer, marketed as the world's smallest high-resolution optical spectrum analyzer, which utilizes patented silicon photonics circuits to achieve ultra-fast scan times and power consumption below one watt. Another significant product is Spectre, an integrated, all-in-one fiber optic sensing system designed for precise temperature and strain monitoring in harsh environments, from automotive safety to high-voltage substations. These products are designed to be compact, energy-efficient, and immune to electromagnetic interference, offering solutions for real-time optical data acquisition, transmission, and sensing. In June 2025, PhotonPath secured €5.1 million in a Series A funding round to scale up manufacturing, expand its commercial team, and accelerate its product roadmap.

Keywords: integrated photonics, photonic integrated circuits, PICs, optical networking, optical sensing, fabless semiconductor, silicon photonics, telecommunications hardware, data center interconnects, fiber optic sensors, aerospace photonics, automotive sensing, industrial automation, optical spectrum analyzer, programmable photonics, deep tech, optical channel monitor, real-time monitoring, infrastructure monitoring, energy-efficient computing