GlobalFoundries (GF) added another deal under its belt with the acquisition of semiconductor startup InfiniLink.

Based in New Cairo, Egypt, InfiniLink designs optical transceiver chiplets (iOTC), which combine silicon photonics and analog mixed-signal components using advanced packaging. This allows for a more scalable and energy-efficient solution using complete optical engine modules for both pluggable and co-packaged optics (CPO).

Kevin Soukup, SVP of GF's Silicon Photonics Business, wrote in a blog that the deal complements the firm’s acquisition this month of silicon photonic chipmaker Advanced Micro Foundry (AMF), providing an end‑to‑end photonics solutions and a multi‑year pluggables and CPO roadmap.

Soukup also pointed to accelerating photonics use into adjacent applications such as sensing and LiDAR for industrial and automotive markets, as well as physical AI and nascent quantum systems.

InfiniLink also produces serializer/deserializer (SerDes) chips, which convert parallel data into serial signals and vice versa, enabling high data rates over a small number of electrical lanes.

Soukup said customers can expect to benefit from faster innovation cycles, accelerating progress toward 400 G/λ solutions.

InfiniLink was founded in 2022 by CEO Ahmed Aboul-Ella and CTO Botros George. It's incorporated in Delaware, with additional locations in Cairo and Dubai.

The company in April received $10 million in seed funding from investors including MediaTek, Sukna Ventures, and M Empire Angels.

Financial details of the InfiniLink acquisition were not disclosed by GF.

Similar deals in the optical space this year include Ciena’s acquisition of optical technology developer Nubis Communications for $270 million. AMD snapped up silicon photonics startup Enosemi, a Silicon Valley-based firm that designs custom materials to support silicon photonics product development.