August 2026 Mergers, Acquisitions and Investment Highlights

Photonics is experiencing a large boom leading to thousands of inventions and new applications. Mergers and Acquisitions (M&As) and investments play a critical role in sustaining the growth of the photonics industry. Read our summary of M&A deals and investments in the photonics industry for August 2026.

Mergers & Acquisitions in Photonics

Eight months passed by since 2026 and Mergers and Acquisitions (M&As) in photonics still keep on coming. For August 2026, we have noted seventeen (17) M&As consisting of fifteen (15) acquisitions and two (2) mergers. Out of the total acquisitions for this month, five (5) were made by European companies whereas a total of seven (7) corporations from Europe were acquired.

First, let’s examine the mergers for the month of August 2026. First EigenQ (USA), a quantum technology developer, and special purpose acquisition company Silicon Valley Acquisition (USA) entered into a business combination transaction that will result to the creation of a publicly listed company “EigenQ Holdings, Inc.” Then, there’s the merger between Blackbird Robotersysteme (Germany), provider of technology solutions for remote laser welding, and Lessmüller Lasertechnik (Germany), developer of quality monitoring systems for industrial welding processes, which will result to the creation of a new company called iQLASE with combined capabilities in “high-precision sensor technology, intelligent process monitoring, and high-performance scanner and software solutions for industrial laser processing”.

Below are the M&As made by companies based in Europe for this month:

• ETL Systems (United Kingdom), an RF equipment provider, acquired Amphinicy Technologies (Luxembourg), a specialist developer of software solutions for the SATCOM and Earth Observation markets, in an agreement that aims to expand both companies’ portfolios.
• Trumpf (Germany), a member of EPIC, acquired Cutlite (Italy), a 2D laser manufacturing company, in a strategic transaction that will expand Trumf’s laser and tube cutting portfolio and allow it to broaden “offerings for customers in the field of customized, large-format, very high-power laser cutting and oversize tube machines.”
• NEURA Robotics (Germany), a pioneering robotics company, acquired hydraulic pump supplier Bosch Rexroth (Germany). The signed agreement integrates autonomous intralogistics and driverless transport systems, widening the scope of their portfolio.
• Callista (Germany), a private equity firm based in Munich, acquired ZeroTouch Metrology  from Sandvik (Sweden), a competitive player in the field of 3d measurement technology.
• HBK (United Kingdom), a member of EPIC and a market leader in the field of precision engineering for test and sensing, acquired Sentech (USA), an LVDT and RVDT position sensor provider. The acquisition allows the expansion of embedded sensing and innovation in aerospace, energy, defense, and industrial applications.

There are other M&As concerning acquired companies based in Europe other than the transactions mentioned above. First is the acquisition by Apple (USA) of materials science specialist PlasmaSolve (Czech Republic). Then, there is the acquisition by TDK (Japan) of the assets of OQmented (Germany), an expert in MEMS-based laser beam scanning and advanced display technologies, in a transaction that will help TDK advance its AR display technologies.

EPIC members likewise actively participated in M&As for this month. As mentioned above, two EPIC members, Trumpf (Germany) and HBK (United Kingdom), made significant acquisitions that further boosted their capabilities.

Rounding up the M&As for the month of August are the other significant transactions all over the world. Teledyne (USA), a provider of digital imaging products and software, instrumentation, aerospace and defense electronics, and engineered systems, acquired Varex Imaging (USA) for $1.1 billion. Varex Imaging is a leading developer of X-ray imaging components and other image processing solutions and its acquisition will significantly boost the portfolio of Teledyne. In another big transaction, Joby Aviation (USA) acquired defense technology company Resonant Sciences (USA) for $500 million to expand its defense business. Lastly, Navitas Semiconductor (USA), one of the leaders in gallium nitride (GaN) and silicon carbide (SiC) power semiconductors, acquired for $232.8 million Claros (USA), a power management solutions company, to improve its AI infrastructure portfolio.

Investments

For August, thirty-two (32) investments in photonics have been recorded. Seventeen (17) of these were secured by companies based in Europe. Let’s examine some of the significant investments secured by companies based in Europe for this month:

• OLIX (United Kingdom), an AI chip startup raised $312 million in a Series B financing round to fund the development of its chip called DX-1 which holds a model in fast on-chip memory.
• Moove (The Netherlands) obtained a Series C $250 million capital to scale the global infrastructure layer for autonomous mobility.
• Gravis Robotics (Switzerland) secured $200 million in a Series A round to help in its mission to scale autonomous heavy machinery across jobsites globally.
• Cambridge Aerospace (United Kingdom), an air defense company, raised $300 million in a Series C funding round to support its exponential growth.

Significant investments were likewise made by photonics companies throughout the globe this August:

• Castelion (USA), a leading defense company, raised $1 billion in a Series C round to scale the production of low-cost hypersonic weapons.
• Lumilens (USA), a connectivity platform for AI infrastructure, raised  $700 million which fund will boost its bid to “break AI’s connectivity constraint.”
• GlobalFoundries (USA) obtained a $300 million funding to accelerate research and development of next-generation silicon photonics.

Of course, EPIC members also secured and/or provided funding opportunities for the month of August 2026. The venture capital arm of EPIC member Zeiss (Germany), ZEISS Ventures, invested €2.2 million in SeeTrue Technologies (Finland) to advance eye-sensing architectures for industrial and wearable platforms. FEMODA (Lithuania) secured an €8 million         funding from EPIC member LITILIT                  (Lithuania) for the “development of the femtosecond fiber laser and its parametric source optimized for nonlinear applications (OFELAS).” EPIC member Solinide (Sweden) secured €4 million to commercialize photonic chip technology for AI data centers. $2.15 million was raised by another member of EPIC Singular Photonics (Scotland) to enable it in launching next-generation image sensors. Lastly, another EPIC memberFemtum (Canada) secured a funding of $2 million to support its next phase of growth and accelerate the commercialization of their laser solutions.

Note: The mergers and acquisitions (M&As) as well as the investments compiled in this article are based on information readily available at the date of the publication of this article. EPIC shall update the article whenever it comes across publication of other transactions after the release of this article. Readers are encouraged to inform EPIC in case of an omission of a particular M&A or investment for the subject month. Feel free to give us an email at info@epic-photonics.com for inquiries.