Kuang-Chi Photonics Completes C+ Round of Over RMB 1 Billion; 12-Inch Wafer-Level Optics Line to Come Online in 2027

Recently, Kuxin Photonics announced the completion of a Series C+ funding round exceeding 1 billion yuan. Investors in this round were not disclosed.

Company board secretary Wang Ting revealed that the 12-inch wafer-level optics production line, built with an investment of 2 billion yuan in Shanghai Lingang, is progressing steadily as planned. Completion and line commissioning are expected in 2027, enabling downstream market development in AR, fiber optics, optical communications, automotive optics and optical computing.

After completing a Series C round in January 2026 and a Series C+ round of nearly 400 million yuan in April, why has Kuxin Photonics been able to secure another major round of funding?

Founded in 2016, Kuxin Photonics focuses on wafer-level optics and optical integration. Its core team brings together professors and PhDs from renowned photonics institutions including Stanford University, the University of Rochester, the University of Cambridge, Zhejiang University and Shanghai Jiao Tong University, as well as senior experts from internationally known companies such as Microsoft and NASA.

The company operates an IDM model, with a cleanroom of nearly 10,000 square meters at its Lingang base, covering a full-process closed-loop system from optical design and master fabrication to mass production and precision inspection. This full-stack capability is a scarce resource in global wafer-level optics, with only a handful of manufacturers—Heptagon/AMS, Himax, VisEra and Anteryon—currently capable of WLO mass production.

All three product lines have achieved volume shipments. 3D sensing micro- and nano-optical components have been supplied to major global smartphone makers since 2019, with cumulative shipments of tens of millions of units, and have extended to robot vacuums, smart door locks and drones. Micro- and nano-fiber products have been supplied to domestic new-energy-vehicle LiDAR makers since 2021, with adoption by automakers including NIO beginning in 2022, and are extending toward high-speed optical modules. AR diffractive optical waveguides are the strategic core growth driver, with industry-leading domestic shipments and six product series spanning resin, glass and silicon carbide material systems and monochrome to full color; the latest-generation lithography-etched waveguide products have entered real-world applications.

Under the company's plan, AR optical waveguide shipments are targeted to exceed 200,000 units in 2026. The company has stated its near-term goal of ranking among the global top three in AR optical waveguide market share and launching IPO preparations, while its long-term goal is to build a full-stack technology platform and become a core player in global consumer photonics, AR optics and automotive optics.

Kuxin's heavy bet on a 12-inch line rests on the convergence of two high-growth curves. Wafer-level optics uses semiconductor processes to manufacture optical components, enabling high-precision, miniaturized, low-cost mass production. According to Verified Market Reports, the global WLO market was worth about 1.5 billion dollars in 2025 and is expected to reach 5.8 billion dollars by 2033, a compound annual growth rate of 17.2%. The optical waveguide component segment in which Kuxin operates is a niche within the WLO market, and the actual addressable market size needs further assessment based on its position in the value chain.

This round signals that full-stack manufacturing capability is becoming a key foundation of competitiveness for optics companies. Kuxin's closed loop from design and master fabrication to mass production and inspection gives it structural advantages in customer onboarding and capacity ramp-up. The fact that a Series C+ round exceeding 1 billion yuan was completed without disclosed investors shows that capital is assigning greater weight to certainty of mass production.

In addition, optical components are shifting from supporting roles in end products to the experiential foundation of AI hardware. Whether in 3D sensing, LiDAR or AR optical waveguides, optical modules directly determine the size, power consumption and display performance of end products. The step-change in the size of this round confirms that capital continues to double down on this view.

In the global WLO competitive landscape, manufacturers with 12-inch line capability are extremely rare. If Kuxin's line comes online on schedule, it will put the company in a favorable position in the race for global wafer-level optical capacity. But the real test is not the size of the funding round; it is whether the line can deliver a mass-production track record after completion and commissioning that is strong enough to support its positioning of 'laying the foundation of photonics AI with wafer-level optics.'