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 June 2026.
Mergers & Acquisitions in Photonics
We’re halfway into the year and M&As in photonics are not letting up. For the month of June, a total of twenty-one (21) M&As have been recorded throughout the world. Nineteen (19) of these are acquisitions while two (2) are mergers between Quantum Space (USA) and Inflection Point Acquisition (USA) and Agility Robotics (USA) and Churchill Capital (USA). Quantum Space is one of the leading space defense and orbital mobility companies in the world and its merger with the special purpose acquisition company Inflection Point facilitated Quantum Space’s transition into becoming a publicly traded company. Similarly, humanoid robotics and physical AI company Agility Robotics likewise entered into a business combination agreement with Churchill Capital (a special purpose acquisition company) so that it can become a publicly listed company.
Let’s now take a look at the acquisitions for the month of June. Five (5) of the acquisitions for this month were made by companies from Europe whereas six (6) European companies were acquired for this month. Below are the acquisitions by European companies for this month:
It is to be noted that of the total acquisitions obtained by European companies for this month, three (3) involved the acquisition of companies based in Europe. SEALSQ and Miraex are both based in Switzerland while EQT from Sweden acquired Germany-based Exolaunch. On the other hand, Cyprus-based Theon acquired SAS Stéropès from France. In addition, there were three (3) other European companies that were acquired this June, namely: EPIC member VPIphotonics from Germany (acquired by US-based Keysight Technologies, also a member of EPIC); United Kingdom company Kinisi Robotics (acquired by US company Bear Robotics); and Swiss Technology Group from Switzerland (acquired by TTM Technologies from the USA). The acquisition of humanoid and Physical AI startup Kinisi Robotics by Bear Robotics resulted in the latter’s completion of its end-to-end physical AI robotics platform. On the other hand, the acquisition of Swiss Technology Group by interconnect and integrated electronic solutions provider TTM Technologies will enable the latter to expand into the European market.
EPIC members were likewise active players in several key M&As in the photonics industry for this month. As mentioned above, VPIphotonics, a developer of software solutions that optimize photonic systems, was acquired by another EPIC member Keysight Technologies to expand its photonic design automation portfolio. There’s also the acquisition of EPIC member Theon of HGH which significantly boosted its portfolio, as previously mentioned above. Lastly, advanced microelectronics company Brewer Science (USA) acquired the Semiconductor Chemicals Business of Heraeus Epurio (USA), a subsidiary of EPIC member Heraeus. The acquisition, which includes the Dayton, Ohio semiconductor chemicals production facility of Heraeus Epurio, will further enhance the existing capabilities of Brewer Science.
Rounding up the M&As for June are several significant acquisitions throughout the world. First, there is the acquisition by Onsemi (USA) of Synaptics (USA) for $7 billion. Onsemi is one of the leading intelligent power and intelligent sensing solutions provider and the acquisition of Synaptics will enable Onsemi to boost its bid to be the world leader in intelligent systems. Voyager Technologies (USA), a defense technology and space solutions company, acquired for $300 million Astrobotic Technology (USA), a pioneering developer of lunar delivery, lunar power and reusable rockets, in a transaction that is viewed as a key step for its “lunar initiative road map.” Gilat (Israel), one of the leading satellite networking technology, solutions, and services companies, acquired US-based Comtech’s Satellite & Space Communications segment for $157.5 million in a transaction that is seen as a boost in Gilat’s bid to be a leading provider of mission-critical defense and satellite communications solutions. Quantum Computing (USA), a quantum optics and integrated photonics technology company, acquired advanced packaging foundry company NHanced Semiconductors (USA) for $73.1 million to enable Quantum Computing’s transition into scalable commercial production.
Investments
Investments in photonics keep getting hotter and hotter midway through the year 2026. For the month of June 2026, there are forty-eight (48) investment transactions all over the globe. Twenty-eight (28) of these were obtained by companies based in Europe, including these high-level financing transactions:
There were likewise significant investment transactions recorded across the world for this month. First, Groq (USA) raised $650 million to help scale its AI inference cloud business. Impulse Space (USA) completed its Series D round to obtain $500 million to “build in-space mobility infrastructure for the space economy.” Generalist AI (USA) secured $400 million in its latest funding round which will accelerate its goal to build physical AGI. Lastly, Mach Industries (USA), one of the leading defense companies in the world, raised $300 million in a Series C funding round.
EPIC members have likewise actively participated in notable major investment transactions for June. Two (2) members of EPIC secured financing to fuel their company’s development and goals. Moreover, seven (7) EPIC members have likewise participated as investors in several major deals this month and helped in providing funding for the development of the photonics industry.
Let’s take a closer look at these transactions in which EPIC members were involved.
Exosens, a member of EPIC from France, raised €140 million to support its research and development as well as innovation its activities. Meanwhile, Coherent, a USA-based EPIC member, secured $50 million for the expansion of its manufacturing facility for AI infrastructure.
On the other hand, several EPIC members and/or their venture capital arm invested in several funding rounds involving mostly European companies. First, Hitachi Ventures and imec.xpand, the venture capital arms of EPIC members Hitachi (Japan) and imec (Belgium), respectively, were among the investors in the recent €20 million funding round for Invisix (Netherlands) to help the latter bring soft x-ray metrology to AI-era chip manufacturing. EPIC member STMicroelectronics (Switzerland) took part as an investor in the Series A round for Quobly (France) which resulted in €115 million in capital and will boost the latter’s goal to bring silicon-based quantum computers to market. PhysicsX (United Kingdom) had EPIC member Applied Materials (USA) as among its investors in its Series C $300 million funding round wherein the capital obtained will boost its mission in accelerating Physics AI for industrial engineering. Member of EPIC Jabil (USA) participated with other investors in the $80 million Series C financing round for HyperLight (USA) which will aid the latter in accelerating its “ability to scale with customers and partners globally.”
EPIC member Nokia (Finland) is among the investors in the aforementioned investment round by ICEYE (Finland). Lastly, EPIC members imec (through imec.xpand) and Bosch were both investors in NEURA Robotics’ above-mentioned funding round.
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.
