Finchetto To Build Photonics Circuits In Cardiff 2026

Key Points

• Finchetto is undertaking a 10-month program that aims to create manufacturing processes for photonic integrated circuits (PICs) in Cardiff.
• The effort is set to be undertaken at the sbarc|spark innovation building of Cardiff University and it shall utilize the cleanroom facilities of the university’s Institute for Compound Semiconductors.
• This project will receive financial support through the Investor Partnerships Programme as well as private investments from the Development Bank of Wales.
• Finchetto will engineer thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN) photonic integrated circuits for its fully optical packet switching technology.
• According to the company, the technology has the capability to cut down latency by up to 700 times and energy consumption by up to 20 times when compared to the conventional electro-optical network switches.
• Finchetto currently has a Cardiff office, in addition to a Guildford, Surrey office and laboratory.
• Mark Rushworth, chief executive of Finchetto stated that the program is pushing the company’s passive optical networking technology towards becoming a manufacturable product.
• Jack Christopher, senior investment executive at the Development Bank of Wales pointed out that the program will make Cardiff more competitive and will further enhance the photonics cluster of the region.

Cardiff (Wales Times) October 22, 2026 – Finchetto has launched a ten-month programme to establish photonic integrated circuit manufacturing at uk/local/cardiff/">Cardiff University, in a move intended to take its AI networking technology from design towards production. As reported by Sofiah Nichole Salivio of IT Brief UK, the project will add process engineering in Cardiff as the company develops manufacturing capability for its AI networking hardware.

The announcement, first published by Finchetto on 13 October 2026, confirms that the company has started work to create a manufacturing process for photonic integrated circuits at Cardiff University’s sbarc|spark innovation building. Finchetto said the programme will use the Institute for Compound Semiconductors cleanrooms at the university.

What is Finchetto building in Cardiff?

Finchetto is developing thin-film lithium niobate photonic integrated circuits, known as TFLN PICs. These circuits will carry the company’s patented fully optical packet switching technology, which the company says is designed to reduce latency and power consumption in AI and data communications networks.

According to Finchetto’s announcement, its technology is intended to reduce latency by 700 times and power consumption by 20 times compared with traditional electro-optical network switches. The company describes itself as developing what it calls the world’s first fully optical packet switch for energy-efficient AI.

The Cardiff programme is therefore not simply a research project. It is intended to establish the processes needed to manufacture the photonic circuits that would sit within Finchetto’s networking hardware. As reported by IT Brief UK, the ten-month project represents a shift from system design towards manufacturing.

Who is supporting the Cardiff project?

The work is being funded through a combination of public-backed grant support and private investment. Finchetto said it secured a grant through the Investor Partnerships Programme, alongside private investment from the Development Bank of Wales.

The Development Bank of Wales is a Welsh public-backed economic development bank that invests in businesses in Wales. Its involvement links the project to wider efforts to develop advanced technology and manufacturing capability in the region.

Jack Christopher, Senior Investment Executive at the Development Bank of Wales, said: “Wales has strong capabilities in compound semiconductors and photonics, which is why we’re delighted to support Finchetto’s work at Cardiff University.”

He added: “Bringing specialist process engineering to Cardiff will strengthen the region’s competitiveness and deepen the growing cluster of photonics innovation.”

Why is Cardiff University involved?

Cardiff University’s Institute for Compound Semiconductors provides the cleanroom facilities required for advanced semiconductor and photonics manufacturing work. Finchetto said it will use these facilities to develop and test its TFLN photonic integrated circuits.

The university’s sbarc|spark innovation building is the location for the programme. The facility is designed to support innovation, research collaboration and the development of technology businesses in Cardiff.

Finchetto already has an established office in Cardiff, in addition to an office and laboratory in Guildford, Surrey. The company said it has continued to hire in the Cardiff area, indicating that the city is becoming a significant base for its engineering work.

What does the project aim to achieve?

The stated aim is to create a repeatable manufacturing process for the photonic circuits needed by Finchetto’s optical networking technology. This involves moving beyond laboratory-scale design and testing towards processes that could support production.

Mark Rushworth, Chief Executive of Finchetto, said: “This programme takes our fully passive optical networking technology towards a manufacturable product and builds upon the UK’s strong photonics manufacturing capabilities at the same time.”

He said: “Photonics is emerging as a pathway to radically more efficient AI and data communications; sovereign capacity will be crucial if the UK is to compete, and we’re delighted to be contributing to that.”

The project’s focus on process engineering is significant because photonics manufacturing depends not only on the design of optical circuits but also on the ability to fabricate, package and test them consistently. In a separate comment piece published by Data Centre Review, Finchetto founder and chief executive Mark Rushworth wrote that packaging and testing, rather than the optical circuits themselves, remain where much of the cost and difficulty lies.

How could the technology affect AI networks?

Finchetto’s technology is aimed at AI networking, where large volumes of data must move quickly between chips, servers and racks. The company argues that optical technology can reduce the energy required for these data movements.

In its announcement, Finchetto said its fully optical packet switching technology is capable of greatly reducing latency by 700 times and power by 20 times compared with traditional electro-optical network switches. These figures are company claims and should be understood as stated performance targets rather than independently verified results.

The broader context is the growing energy demand associated with AI data centres. In his Data Centre Review article, Rushworth wrote that photonics is beginning to move into parts of the data centre previously dominated by electronics, particularly in moving data between chips, racks and servers in AI and high-performance networks.

He also wrote that the greatest near-term impact is in AI and high-performance network interconnects, where energy savings are clearest and the integration path is shortest.

What is photonics and why does it matter?

Photonics is the use of light to carry and process information. In data communications, it can involve using optical signals rather than electronic signals for parts of a network, potentially reducing energy use and improving speed.

Finchetto’s work focuses on photonic integrated circuits, or PICs. These are chips that use light rather than electrons to perform functions such as switching and routing data.

The company’s particular approach uses thin-film lithium niobate, a material used in photonics because of its optical properties. Finchetto said its TFLN PICs will carry its fully optical packet switching technology.

The company has previously described its mission as reducing data centre energy use and accelerating cluster performance through a fully optical passive network switch. UKTIN, the UK Telecoms Innovation Network, says Finchetto has also won funding through the SBRI Future Telecommunications Challenge delivered by UKRI and is collaborating with BT.

What does this mean for UK manufacturing?

Finchetto described the programme as a step towards developing sovereign manufacturing capacity for photonic technologies in the United Kingdom. Sovereign capacity refers to a country’s ability to develop, manufacture and supply critical technologies without relying entirely on overseas suppliers.

The UK currently has research and pilot-scale strengths in photonics, but Rushworth wrote in Data Centre Review that it does not yet have mature, high-volume domestic photonic integrated circuit manufacturing.

He identified several parts of the UK photonics ecosystem, including Cornerstone in Southampton, the CSA Catapult in Newport and the wider photonics ecosystem in Wales. He also referred to emerging research and development infrastructure in Glasgow and Sheffield.

The Cardiff project adds to this network by placing Finchetto’s manufacturing development work within a university cleanroom environment. The company said the programme builds on the UK’s existing photonics manufacturing capabilities.

What has IT Brief reported?

As reported by Sofiah Nichole Salivio of IT Brief UK, Finchetto has launched a ten-month programme to establish photonic integrated circuit manufacturing at Cardiff University. IT Brief UK described the project as adding process engineering in Cardiff as Finchetto moves from system design to manufacturing for AI networking hardware.

The same report was carried across the TechDay network, including DataCentreNews UK and TelcoNews UK. Both outlets credited Sofiah Nichole Salivio and described the project in the same terms: a ten-month initiative that will add process engineering in Cardiff as Finchetto develops manufacturing capability for AI networking hardware.

IT Brief UK published its report on 22 October 2026. Finchetto’s own announcement was published on 13 October 2026, while Electronics Media reported the development on 14 October 2026.

Background of the development

Finchetto is a UK photonics company developing optical networking technology for AI and data communications. Its stated mission is to reduce data centre energy use and improve cluster performance through a fully optical passive network switch.

The company has previously received Innovate UK funding to develop what it describes as the world’s first fully optical passive network switch. It has also been selected to work with Pilot Photonics laser technology for its optical network switch.

Finchetto’s participation in the UKTIN Transforming through Telecoms programme helped it identify applications for its photonic processors and network switches in telecommunications. The company has also secured funding through the SBRI Future Telecommunications Challenge, delivered by UKRI, and is collaborating with BT.

The latest Cardiff programme follows the company’s earlier recruitment activity in Wales. Job listings for senior and junior photonics process engineers, as well as a photonics characterisation engineer, show that Finchetto has been building a team at its branch office at Cardiff University’s Institute for Compound Semiconductors. The listings describe work on TFLN wafer patterning, cleanroom nanofabrication, optical testing and the development of processes that could scale to larger volumes.

The development also comes amid wider policy interest in UK photonics and AI hardware. In his Data Centre Review article, Rushworth referred to the government’s recently announced £1.1 billion AI Hardware Plan, which he said is aimed at building sovereign capability in emerging areas including photonics and edge AI inference.

Prediction: How could this affect Cardiff’s tech sector?

For Cardiff’s technology and manufacturing community, the project could strengthen the city’s position in compound semiconductors and photonics. If the ten-month programme produces workable manufacturing processes, it may support further specialist engineering roles, supply-chain activity and collaboration between industry and Cardiff University.

For Welsh businesses and investors, the involvement of the Development Bank of Wales suggests that photonics is being treated as a sector with regional economic potential. Jack Christopher’s comments indicate that the bank sees Finchetto’s work as capable of strengthening the region’s competitiveness and deepening its photonics cluster.

For UK AI and data centre operators, the development is an early-stage signal rather than an immediate product launch. The programme is designed to establish manufacturing processes over ten months; commercial impact will depend on whether Finchetto can turn its claimed performance advantages into reliable, scalable and cost-effective hardware.

For the wider UK technology sector, the project may contribute to efforts to close the gap between photonics research and volume manufacturing. Rushworth has argued that the UK’s opportunity lies in high-value, lower-volume photonics manufacturing rather than attempting to replicate large-scale global chip fabrication. If successful, the Cardiff programme could become one example of how UK companies translate photonics research into domestically developed AI networking components.