NTT launches $500M fund to boost global IOWN adoption

　　NTT is partnering with its East Asian counterparts, the SK Group (which includes SK Telecom) and Chunghwa Telecom, to establish a multinational investment fund worth approximately $500 million (80 billion Japanese yen).

　　The fund aims to support the global adoption and commercialization of NTT's Innovative Optical and Wireless Network (IOWN) technology. IOWN uses optical communications to dramatically reduce power consumption in data centers and enable faster, higher-volume data transmission. This technology is said to be especially valuable for AI data centers, which consume enormous amounts of electricity.

　　The fund, called the IOWN AI Fund, will be managed by Catalight Capital, a new fund management firm that will be set up with operations in Silicon Valley and in Tokyo.

　　Next-generation infrastructure for the AI era

　　The fund will invest in early-stage and high-growth startups in North America, Asia and Europe that develop technologies in key areas such as photonics and photoelectric fusion, AI semiconductors, and next-generation software and infrastructure. The fund will also target distributed cloud systems, optical communications and AI software for inference optimization, as well as AI applications in healthcare, manufacturing and finance.

　　"As AI moves toward large-scale inference and distributed intelligent systems, the industry faces a new infrastructure challenge spanning compute, networking, memory, and energy efficiency. We believe photonics-enabled infrastructure and distributed optical computing will play a critical role in addressing this shift. Through Catalight Capital and the IOWN AI Fund initiative, we are bringing together global operators, deep technology expertise, and startup innovation to help build the future foundation of AI infrastructure," Young Sohn, founding managing partner of Walden Catalyst Ventures, said in a statement.

　　Sohn has been appointed as an operating partner of the IOWN AI Fund alongside NTT, SK Group, Chunghwa Telecom and the Development Bank of Japan. Sohn is based in Silicon Valley and has extensive experience in venture investment and corporate management in the deep tech sector, particularly in the fields of optical communications and semiconductors.

　　To date, over 20 companies have shown interest in investing in the IOWN AI Fund. These include GlobalFoundries, the NEC Corporation, the KDDI Corporation, Samsung Electronics, the SBI Group and SK Hynix.

　　"To realize AI-native infrastructure, it is essential to combine the optical and networking technologies that NTT has cultivated with advanced technologies and the strengths of partners around the world," said NTT President and CEO Akira Shimada.

　　"Through the IOWN AI Fund, we will promote business collaboration with promising startups, work together with our global partners to build the IOWN ecosystem, and contribute to the creation of a new industrial foundation," he added.