As photonics moves from laboratory prototype to strategic industrial asset, the funding gap between early-stage grants and growth equity is leaving world-class technology stranded. Our Photonics100 leaders look at why the numbers don’t add up, and what it would take to fix them

A generation of engineers is retiring. Students have never heard of the field. Salaries struggle to compete. And international recruitment is becoming more challenging. What happens to photonics firms when the expertise runs out?

From germanium and gallium shortages caused by export controls to InP shortages driven by AI data centre demand, the photonics industry is confronting a supply chain crisis that is technical, political and existential