Synapse Photonics · Sophia Antipolis, France
Get data into isolated systems. Nothing gets out.
Synapse Photonics moves keys, updates and configurations into air-gapped and critical systems as light: sealed with your key, delivered exactly or refused, with no cable, no USB stick and no path back.
Testers wrote their own messages in any language and chose their own passphrase. Every message arrived exactly as written. With the wrong passphrase, nothing was recovered.
Every test message arrived bit for bit, in any language.
MeasuredRecovered by anyone without your key.
MeasuredBetween the two sides. The direction is fixed by physics, not by a software setting.
DesignedOur first photonic chip design passes a zero-error design-rule check on Ligentec’s process design kit, built in Luceda IPKISS. Fabrication is next.
DesignedThe problem
Isolated systems still need data, and every way in is a risk or a cost.
Power plants, water networks, factories, defence systems and the vaults that hold cryptographic keys are cut off from networks on purpose. They still need updates, configurations and keys, and today those mostly arrive on a USB stick.
What you get
Four guarantees, whatever crosses.
What matters to your security team, seen from the outside. The technology behind it is proprietary. We walk qualified partners through it under NDA.
Readable only with your key
Every transfer is sealed before it leaves. Anything intercepted without the key is noise.
Nothing can travel back
The return path does not exist physically, so no setting, update or attacker can switch it on.
Delivered bit for bit, or refused
The protected side accepts a transfer only when it is complete and untouched. Nothing is ever half-delivered.
Nothing to plug in
No cable, no removable media and no network link between the two sides, so there is far less to install, maintain and certify.
Where it fits first
Wherever a USB stick still crosses the gap.
Keys and certificates
Key ceremonies, certificate authorities and digital-asset custody, where an exact, authenticated transfer matters more than speed.
Industrial networks
Software updates, signatures, recipes and configurations into isolated plant networks, without removable media.
Sovereign and defence
A French, physically one-way building block for moving data into protected networks, designed for certification from the start.
We work with CISOs, OT security leads, key custodians, and integrators in defence and critical infrastructure.
Working with us
From a first call to a pilot on your site.
We are now selecting a small number of first pilot partners. Each one shapes the product and gets early access to it.
- 1
Briefing
A conversation about your isolated systems: what crosses today, how, and what it costs you. Technical detail under NDA.
- 2
Fit assessment
Together with your security team, we pick the transfers that matter most and agree how success will be measured.
- 3
Pilot
A pilot kit on your test bench or site, measured against the criteria we agreed.
Roadmap
Proven today. Our own light next.
The first product is built from proven optical parts. Our own photonic component is the next step: more capacity in a smaller, more rugged unit.
Done · Oct 2026
Exact transfer validated
Independent testers, their own messages, any language, real devices.
Done · Oct 2026
First photonic chip designed
Zero-error design-rule check (DRC) on Ligentec’s PDK, built in Luceda IPKISS.
Next
Pilot kit and first partner pilots
A hardened receiver and standard, certified cryptography.
Then
Fabrication and certification
First silicon, and a French security certification for the sealed appliance.
What it is not, yet
We publish what is not done.
- Not a bulk-data pipe. Hardware data diodes move large volumes faster. We are built for what must cross exactly and securely: keys, updates and configurations.
- Not certified yet. Certification is planned for the sealed appliance. We will say so the day it is obtained, not before.
- Our photonic component is designed, not built. The product does not depend on it; it is how the product grows.
Questions
What security teams ask us first.
How does it work?
Data crosses optically, sealed with your key, and is verified on the protected side before it is released. The design is proprietary, so we take qualified partners through it under NDA.
What can be transferred?
Anything that must arrive exactly: cryptographic keys and certificates, signed software updates, configuration files and recipes. It is not designed for bulk data.
What is installed on the protected side?
A compact receiver with no network connection and no way to send anything back. We size it with you during the fit assessment.
Is it certified?
Not yet. The sealed appliance is designed for French and European security certification, which we will pursue with our first partners.
Can we run a pilot?
Yes. We are selecting first pilot partners now. The first step is a briefing: a conversation about your isolated systems.
Also from Synapse
Synapse Fusion turns your company’s AI spend into measurable hours back, with your own people doing the building.
Talk to us
Tell us how data reaches your isolated systems today.
We are based in Sophia Antipolis, France, and selected for INSEAD LaunchPad at Station F. European sovereignty requirements favour European suppliers for defence and critical infrastructure, and our technology is built for isolated systems from the start. Write to jacques@synapse-photonics.com.
