Spanish artificial intelligence infrastructure startup iPronics raised 125 million dollars in a Series B funding round featuring an investment from semiconductor giant Nvidia. The company, which develops optical circuit switches for data centers, will use the funds to expand operations, commercialize its iPronics ONE technology, and grow its Santa Clara, California team.
Valencia-based startup iPronics has closed one of the largest technology funding rounds of the year in Spain, securing 125 million dollars, equivalent to approximately 107 to 108 million euros depending on the reporting outlet. The financing round marks a major milestone for the hardware firm by drawing backing from American chip giant Nvidia, which executed its first significant investment in the Spanish technology sector.
Funding Details and Strategic Backing from Nvidia
The Series B funding round was co-led by Maverick Silicon and Light Street Capital. Beyond Nvidia, the financing drew participation from both new and existing investors, including Triatomic Capital, Bosch Ventures, Catalight Capital, the European Innovation Council Fund, The Tate Family Trust, Fine Structure Ventures, Amadeus Capital Partners, Build Collective. Criteria Venture Tech, the venture capital arm of CriteriaCaixa and an early backer of the startup, also participated as a continued institutional investor.
With this latest injection of capital, the total funding raised by iPronics since its inception climbs to 177 million dollars, or roughly 153 million euros. Company executives emphasized the importance of the backing.
Christian Dupont, CEO of iPronics, stated that having the backing of Maverick Silicon, Light Street Capital, and Nvidia reinforces the company’s vision of establishing iPronics as a benchmark in optical networks.
Dupont added that the investment allows the firm to accelerate commercialization and ensure data centers can maximize GPU performance without sacrificing efficiency.
Origins in Photonic Research and the iPronics ONE Conmutador
Founded in 2019, iPronics originated as a spin-off from the Universitat Politècnica de València, building upon years of pioneering research in programmable silicon photonics and large-scale photonic systems. The firm initially explored generic applications across telecommunications and automotive sectors before narrowing its focus toward artificial intelligence infrastructure and data centers.
The company develops an optical circuit switch, known as OCS, designed to cable and reconfigure supercomputers used for artificial intelligence workloads. As artificial intelligence clusters scale to incorporate hundreds of thousands of graphics processing units, hardware failures occur within minutes rather than hours or weeks. According to technical leadership, the primary motivation behind the OCS technology is building a resilient network capable of automatically rerouting traffic around failed chips.
The company’s flagship product, iPronics ONE (Optical Networking Engine), replaces static network topologies with a software-controlled optical backbone. This system dynamically manages bandwidth between GPU clusters in real time while reducing overall electrical power consumption and decreasing physical footprint.
Expansion Plans and Governance Changes
Headquartered in Valencia, Spain, where its primary operations remain anchored, iPronics has established an international presence by opening an office in Santa Clara, California. The firm currently employs roughly 100 people—more than a third of whom hold doctorates—and plans to double its workforce over the coming year, focusing heavily on hiring personnel in the United States.
Governance changes accompany the new funding. Manish Muthal, senior managing director at Maverick Silicon, and Geoffrey Tate, an advisor at Light Street Capital and former CEO of Rambus, are joining the board of directors.
