Dutch startup Astrape Network has raised €7.9m ($8.9m) to fund the development of its photonic networking switch.

As reported by Innovation Origins, the European Innovation Council contributed €2.5m ($2.8m) to the seed funding round, with venture capital firms PhotonVentures, Join Capital, Brabant Development Agency, and Shift Invest making up the remainder.

Astrape’s product, Effiniti, is a switch that intends to make networking more efficient by removing the need to switch between electrical and optical signals. The company claims this will enable networks to support more than 16 million GPUs per network, handle 50 percent more load, and slash energy consumption.

Francesco Pessolano, CEO and co-founder of Astrape, told Tech Funding News: “We’re using this funding to complete product development and validation, creating a fully functional network switch ready for real-world use.

“The funding will support early pilot deployments with lead customers. These pilots will guide our refinements as we prepare for scaled manufacturing and broader market readiness by the end of 2027. The investment will also help us grow our technical team, enhance our business capabilities, and strengthen our intellectual property portfolio.”

In 2022, Astrape emerged from HighTechXL, a deep-tech incubator supported by Eindhoven Startup Alliance. It secured €1.6m ($1.8m) in pre-seed funding in 2023, and it produced a functional small-scale prototype the year after.