Key points
- Lumilens, a maker of optical interconnects, emerged from stealth on August 6 with more than $700 million in new funding and a $5.51 billion valuation, and said it is shipping into a hyperscaler's data centers under a multi-billion-dollar customer agreement.
- POET Technologies (POET), a photonics company in Toronto, signed a supply deal with Lumilens on May 14, 2026: an initial $50 million purchase order for optical engines that can scale to $500 million over five years.
- As part of that deal, POET granted Lumilens a warrant for up to 22,921,408 POET shares at $8.25 each, near 12% of POET's shares, vesting as Lumilens pays toward the $500 million.
- POET closed at $8.53 on August 6 and traded near $9.10 in pre-market on August 7, up about 7% as of about 9:20 a.m. ET. It is down about 59% from its $20.81 high, set on May 14, the day the Lumilens deal was announced.
- POET is not profitable. Engineering samples are due late in 2026, with volume production in 2027.
Lumilens, a two-year-old maker of optical interconnects, came out of stealth on August 6 with more than $700 million in new funding at a $5.51 billion valuation. The company also said it is shipping into a hyperscaler's data centers already, under what it called a multi-billion-dollar customer agreement. POET Technologies (POET), a Toronto photonics firm, signed a deal in May to help build those products.
What POET agreed to build for Lumilens
On May 14, 2026, POET and Lumilens announced a supply agreement and joint development program built around POET's Electrical-Optical Interposer, a platform that packages lasers and chips into one module. Lumilens placed an initial $50 million purchase order for optical engines. The companies said the framework could scale to more than $500 million in cumulative purchases over five years, and that the parts range from 800G and 1.6T pluggable transceivers to near-package and co-packaged optics.
The agreement also gave Lumilens a stake in its supplier. POET granted Lumilens a warrant to buy up to 22,921,408 POET common shares at $8.25 each over nine years. Of those, 2,292,140 shares were immediately exercisable, and the rest vest in tranches as Lumilens pays toward the $500 million. The full warrant is near 12% of POET's roughly 189.7 million shares outstanding, and would raise about $189 million for POET if exercised in full.
Ankur Singla, Lumilens chief executive and founder, said when the deal was announced: "GPU interconnects are emerging as the defining bottleneck for scaling AI, and addressing it requires rethinking the full optical stack." Lumilens has only existed since early 2024. Its August round pushed total funding past $900 million. Backers include Bain Capital Ventures, Spark Capital and Qualcomm Ventures, among others.
Before this week, Lumilens was a private startup with a $50 million order on POET's books. The August 6 raise put a $5.51 billion valuation and more than $900 million in cash behind that customer. POET's supply framework runs up to $500 million, and the warrant tied to it vests only as Lumilens actually pays. POET has not disclosed how much Lumilens has ordered since May beyond the initial $50 million.
How POET stock has reacted
POET's move on the deal came back in May. It hit $20.81 on May 14, the day the agreement was announced. That was its highest price in the past year. The stock has since fallen about 59%. It closed at $8.53 on August 6, just above the $8.25 warrant strike. In pre-market on August 7, after the Lumilens raise, POET traded near $9.10, up about 7% as of about 9:20 a.m. ET. Optical stocks were broadly higher that morning.
| Date | POET price | Context |
|---|---|---|
| May 14, 2026 | $20.81 (52-week high) | Lumilens deal announced |
| Aug 6, 2026 (close) | $8.53 | About 59% below the high |
| Aug 7, 2026 (pre-market) | about $9.10 | Up about 7% (~9:20 a.m. ET) |
POET was not the only optical name higher on August 7. Coherent (COHR), Lumentum (LITE), Credo (CRDO) and Fabrinet (FN) all traded up in pre-market. Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI) rose the most, near 14%, after its own second-quarter report on August 6. The group has run for a week on a Reuters report that the FCC is drafting a ban on new Chinese optical transceivers.
| Stock | Aug 6 close | Aug 7 pre-market (~9:20 a.m. ET) |
|---|---|---|
| Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI) | $124.22 | +14.2% |
| Coherent (COHR) | $334.22 | +7.5% |
| POET Technologies (POET) | $8.53 | +6.7% |
| Lumentum (LITE) | $838.06 | +4.5% |
| Credo (CRDO) | $230.43 | +4.0% |
| Fabrinet (FN) | $543.95 | +4.2% |
POET has a second AI-optics partner. In November 2025 it teamed with Sivers Semiconductors (SIVEF), a Swedish laser maker, to build external light source modules that pair Sivers's lasers with POET's interposer. The two companies put the market for those modules above $1 billion a year and targeted production readiness by the end of 2026. Sivers trades over the counter in the United States, and we wrote a separate guide on how to buy it.
The risks
POET is not profitable and carries a market value near $1.6 billion on about 189.7 million shares. The Lumilens engines are still pre-production. POET expects engineering samples late in 2026 and volume tied to hyperscaler deployments in 2027, so most of the $500 million is a future event, not current revenue. The warrant, if fully exercised, adds near 12% to POET's share count. And the stock has already shown how fast this trade moves. It ran to $20.81 on the deal in May and gave back most of it by August.
"Our focus has always been on redefining the integration paradigm in photonics," Dr. Suresh Venkatesan, POET's chairman and chief executive, said in May. The next proof point is a set of engineering samples due before the end of the year.
This is general market information, not investment advice. Always do your own research and consider speaking with a licensed financial professional before making any investment decision.
