Morphotonics raises €40M to expand NIL tech into data centers
Original: Morphotonics raises €40M to expand its display tech into data centers
Why This Matters
Waveguide production is a key bottleneck as smart glasses scale toward mass market volumes.
Dutch nanoimprint lithography startup Morphotonics raised €40M in an extended round backed by 3M Ventures, Innovation Industries, EIC Fund, and the EIB. The 12-year-old company, which makes display manufacturing equipment for AR glasses and waveguide optics, will use the funds to scale production and enter optical components for data centers.
Netherlands-based Morphotonics uses nanoimprint lithography (NIL) — a process where a physical 'stamp' is pressed into photosensitive material — to produce optical components, primarily waveguides used in AR and smart glasses. Its customer list includes suppliers for Meta Ray-Ban Display, Even Realities, and Magic Leap. The company's approach sits in a different segment from compatriot ASML, though it shares vendors within that same supply chain.
The €40M raise is the latest installment of a round that began in 2024, with investors including 3M Ventures, Innovation Industries, BOM, Invest-NL, EIC Fund, Ernij Next, and the European Investment Bank. Headcount has more than doubled to 60 employees since CEO Hugo Da Silva joined in September 2024, with a target of 70–75.
Timing looks favorable. China reported smart glasses sales doubled in the first eight months of 2026, and IDC projects display-equipped smart glasses shipments will hit 12.2 million units by 2030. Morphotonics sells equipment and process know-how to display manufacturers, primarily concentrated in China, Taiwan, South Korea, and the U.S. The company's next machine is currently under construction, and Da Silva is now eyeing data center optical components as a second growth vector.