Sofics and Alcyon Photonics Partner to Support Next-Generation Photonic Systems

Collaboration brings together robust ESD protection for electrical ICs and foundry-validated IP for photonic ICs, helping mutual customers accelerate photonics product development.

Aalter, Belgium / MADRID, Spain — April 16, 2026 — Sofics and Alcyon Photonics today announced a partnership to support semiconductor companies developing advanced photonic systems. The collaboration combines Sofics’ expertise in specialty I/Os and on-chip ESD protection for electrical ICs (EICs) with Alcyon Photonics’ expertise in validated photonic IP building blocks and design services for photonic ICs (PICs). Together, the companies aim to help shared customers reduce development risk and accelerate time-to-market for photonics-enabled products.

Photonics products combine both an EIC and a PIC. In these systems, Alcyon Photonics supports the light-manipulating side of the design with foundry-validated photonic IP and custom PIC design capabilities, while Sofics supports the electrical side with silicon-proven ESD and I/O protection IP used in demanding high-speed and high-performance applications, including data center and AI-related designs.

“The photonics market is moving toward more complete, manufacturable solutions, and customers increasingly need strong partners on both the PIC and EIC sides,” said Enrique Frutos, CTO at Alcyon Photonics. “By working with Sofics, we can point our customers to a trusted partner for the electrical IC portion of their system, while we continue to help them accelerate the design of robust, scalable photonic integrated circuits.”

“For Sofics, this partnership is a natural fit,” said Koen Verhaege, CEO at Sofics. “We already support several customers in photonics-related applications, where our IP is used on the electrical IC side in systems targeting data center, AI and sensing markets. Alcyon Photonics brings highly complementary expertise on the photonic IC side. Together, we can create more value for companies building complete photonic systems.”

The relationship grew out of discussions at an event in 2025, where both companies recognized that they were often targeting the same end customers from complementary angles. As a first step, Sofics and Alcyon Photonics will collaborate on supporting joint customers combining their complementary expertise and partner foundry ecosystem.

For semiconductor teams building products that combine electronics and photonics, the partnership offers a clearer path to access proven expertise for both core parts of the system. This is especially relevant for applications where performance, robustness and faster development cycles are all critical.

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About Alcyon Photonics

Alcyon Photonics, based in Spain, develops high-performance, foundry-validated photonic IP building blocks and integrated circuits, complemented by design, simulation and layout services. Its offering is focused on helping customers shorten photonic development cycles, improve manufacturability and scale reliably toward production.

About Sofics

Sofics is a semiconductor IP provider focused on specialty I/Os and on-chip ESD protection for integrated circuits. Its IP is used across applications including AI, data center, optical interconnects and other high-performance semiconductor designs.