Lightspring targets photonic packaging, which its coverage says accounts for roughly half of a photonic integrated circuit's cost versus about 20% for foundry fabrication, while current fibre-to-chip alignment typically causes 2–3 dB of loss, low throughput, and poor yield as AI pushes optics closer to compute. The €3.1 million seed round, €350,000 i-Lab grant, and additional public innovation funding bring financing to over €3.5 million to move the 3D optical-coupling process from laboratory work toward a qualified production line.