Ahmed Aboul-Ella has done what few African founders have dared to attempt: he built world-class semiconductor IP in Cairo and sold it to a global giant. In November 2025, GlobalFoundries (GF), a Nasdaq-listed US semiconductor manufacturer with a $20 billion market capitalisation, acquired the Egyptian startup InfiniLink.
It marked a rare moment when frontier semiconductor IP built in Africa was absorbed into the global supply chain at scale. Following the acquisition, Aboul-Ella joined GF as VP Research & Development, bringing InfinilLink’s team and photonics IP into GF’s silicon photonics business.
The deal was a key validation for Aboul-Ella, who built InfiniLink into one of the biggest semiconductor exports from Africa. In March, the startup raised a $10 million seed round—co-led by MediaTek, a leading Taiwanese fabless semiconductor company, and Sukna Ventures—scaled its silicon photonics technology for AI data centres, and delivered a 400% return for its early investor, the state-backed Egypt Ventures, upon the acquisition of the startup.
Operationally, 2025 was a year of intense execution for the three-year-old startup. InfiniLink taped out multiple generations of optical connectivity chips, filed six new patents, and shipped production-ready technology addressing one of AI infrastructure’s biggest problems: how to move massive amounts of data using less power.
