Oriole Networks secures £16.8m to further scale its “super-brain” solution

The UCL spinout, which uses light to train Large Language Models with a fraction of the usual AI energy consumption, has raised £16.8m in Series A. This follows a £10m Seed funding earlier this year, which is one of the UK’s largest Seed raises in recent years, and was co-led by the UCL Technology Fund, which Albion manages with UCLB.

Oriole Networks solves AI’s biggest challenges – speed, latency and sustainability. It uses light, via advanced photonics technology, to create networks of AI chips and combine their processing power. With this novel approach, LLMs can be trained up to a 100x faster, whilst consuming a fraction of power, allowing algorithms to run with much lower latency.

Oriole’s technology dramatically reduces the energy consumption of data centres which is putting a huge strain on energy grids in both the US and Europe. If data centre demand triples by 2035, as expected, and developers struggle to install new wind and solar, power sector emissions could be more than 56% higher than forecast, according to research by Rhodium Group.

In less than a year, Oriole has assembled an experienced, proven photonics team that is unparalleled in the UK. The company is backed by professionals in high-performance clusters, including the venture arm of XTX Markets, which operates one of the largest GPU clusters in the world.

The recent funding takes the total raised by Oriole Networks this year to £27m and will be used to increase Oriole’s pace even further by expanding its team and engaging with high-volume suppliers. By 2025, it plans to have its early-stage products in the hands of customers, creating an ecosystem of photonic networking for AI.

James Regan, CEO of Oriole Networks, said:

“This funding is yet another milestone for Oriole following a year of rapid pace and growth. This is a booming market desperate for solutions and our ambition is to create an ecosystem of photonic networking that can reshape this industry by solving today’s bottlenecks and enabling greater competition at the GPU layer. Building on decades of research, we’re paving the way for faster, more efficient, more sustainable AI.”

David Grimm, Albion Partner who works on the UCL Technology Fund, said:

“As innovation in the AI space continues at pace, the work Oriole Networks is doing to build a sustainable AI future is critically important. It’s been incredible to see the progress James and the team have made so far, from amazing research at UCL to a business powering the future within  such a short timeframe. The solution Oriole Networks provides is vital to ensuring innovation doesn’t come at the cost of our planet, and we’re proud to continue supporting this forward-thinking business.”