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primarysourced Photonics sector POET
POET
~9 min read · 1,956 words ·updated 2026-04-29 · confidence 91%

Confidence legend: ✓ SEC-filing-verified · ◐ press-release-verified · ⚠ inferred / speculation / community-source

This page is the canonical chronological reference for any thesis claim that invokes POET corporate history. Capital-raise rows trace to 6-K accession numbers or 424B5 take-down prospectuses; legal-entity-history rows trace to the Form 20-F Item 4.A “History and Development of the Company” narrative. Every dollar figure that lacks a primary citation is flagged ⚠.

Predecessor-Entity Era (1972–2013)

Photonic-Pivot Era (2015–2019)

  • 2015-06-11: Dr. Suresh Venkatesan appointed CEO and Director (date first elected/appointed per 20-F). Joined from GlobalFoundries, where he was SVP Technology Development. ✓ Form 20-F filed 2026-03-31, Item 6.A
  • 2016-05-11: POET acquires DenseLight Semiconductor Pte. Ltd. (Singapore-based optical light-source manufacturer) in an all-stock deal valued at $10,500,000 (1,361,115 POET common shares issued to former DenseLight holders). ✓ Form 20-F filed 2026-03-31, Item 4.A
  • 2016-06-22: POET acquires BB Photonics Inc. (US, with UK subsidiary BB Photonics UK Ltd.) in an all-stock transaction for $1,550,000 (199,609 POET common shares). BB Photonics’ integrated-photonics IP is later folded into the Optical Interposer roadmap. ✓ Form 20-F filed 2026-03-31, Item 4.A
  • 2016-11-02: Thomas R. Mika appointed EVP & CFO. ✓ Form 20-F filed 2026-03-31, Item 6.A
  • 2017-09-05: Jean-Louis Malinge appointed Director (later Lead Independent Director). Brings silicon-photonics CEO experience from Kotura (acquired by Mellanox 2013). ✓ Form 20-F filed 2026-03-31, Item 6.A
  • 2017–onward: POET’s R&D pivots toward designing lasers for datacom; DenseLight is directed to fabricate them on the Optical Interposer platform. ✓ Form 20-F filed 2026-03-31, Item 5.C
  • 2019-05-17: POET establishes POET Technologies Pte. Ltd. (“PTS”), a wholly-owned Singapore subsidiary that serves as the holding entity for the Asia-side operating units. ✓ Form 20-F filed 2026-03-31, Item 4.A
  • 2019-11-04: Vivek Rajgarhia appointed President & General Manager. Joined from MACOM (NASDAQ: MTSI), where he ran the Lightwave Business Unit. ✓ Form 20-F filed 2026-03-31, Item 6.A
  • 2019-11-08: POET completes the DenseLight divestiture — sells 100% of DenseLight for $26,000,000 cash, recognizing an $8.7M gain on sale. Step formalizes POET’s pivot to a “fab-light” model where DenseLight had been the company’s only owned wafer-fab capacity. ✓ Form 20-F filed 2026-03-31, Item 4.A

Sanan Joint Venture Era (2020–2024)

  • 2020-08-04: PTS establishes POET Optoelectronics Shenzhen Co., Ltd (“POET SZ”), a wholly-owned Shenzhen subsidiary that validates Optical Engine designs and works directly with PRC module customers. ✓ Form 20-F filed 2026-03-31, Item 4.A
  • 2020-10-22: POET signs the Joint Venture Agreement with Xiamen Sanan Integrated Circuit Co. Ltd. (Sanan IC) to form Super Photonics Xiamen Co., Ltd. (SPX) — initial JV, ownership terms enumerated in jv history. ✓ Form 20-F filed 2026-03-31, Item 4.A
  • 2020-12-07: Glen Riley appointed Director (later Compensation Committee Chair from 2022-10-14). Brings TriQuint / Qorvo optoelectronics-GM background. ✓ Form 20-F filed 2026-03-31, Item 6.A
  • 2021-03-12: Super Photonics Xiamen Co., Ltd. formally constituted under PRC law in HongTang Town, TongAn District, Xiamen City, Fujian Province. ✓ Form 20-F filed 2026-03-31, Item 4.A

Nasdaq Uplist & TSXV Delisting (2022–2024)

  • 2022-02-22: POET announces share-consolidation and Nasdaq-uplist plan (post-consolidation TSXV trading expected to commence ~2022-02-28). ◐ GlobeNewswire — POET Technologies Advances Toward Nasdaq Listing (2022-02-22)
  • 2022-03-14: POET commences trading on the Nasdaq Capital Market under symbol “POET” (file number 001-41319). The cumulative cost of regulatory readiness — auditor reviews, Sarbanes-Oxley compliance, foreign-private-issuer governance disclosures — establishes the post-2022 reporting cadence. ◐ Nasdaq press release — POET Technologies Commences Trading on Nasdaq Under Symbol “POET” (2022-03-14)
  • 2022-04-27: Form 20-F for fiscal 2021 filed (accession 0001493152-22-011268) — first 20-F as a Nasdaq-listed FPI. ✓ EDGAR — POET 20-F 2022-04-27
  • 2022-05-01: Raju Kankipati appointed Chief Revenue Officer (joined from MACOM Senior Director of Product Management). ✓ Form 20-F filed 2026-03-31, Item 6.A
  • 2022-10-14: Theresa Lan Ende appointed Director — Chief Procurement Director of Arista Networks since 2019. Adds direct hyperscaler-supply-chain insight to the board. ✓ Form 20-F filed 2026-03-31, Item 6.A
  • 2023-03-31: Form 20-F for fiscal 2022 filed (accession 0001493152-23-010387). ✓ EDGAR — POET 20-F 2023-03-31
  • 2023-09-01 / 2023-11-01 / 2023-12-01: Three sequential 424B5 ATM-program take-downs (accession numbers 0001493152-23-031493, -039033, -043437) — POET dribbles capital from the active F-3 shelf to fund operating losses. ✓ EDGAR — 2023-09-01 | 2023-11-01 | 2023-12-01
  • 2024-03-28: Form 20-F for fiscal 2023 filed (accession 0001493152-24-011806). ✓ EDGAR — POET 20-F 2024-03-28
  • 2024-04-02: Additional 424B5 ATM take-down (accession 0001493152-24-012839). ✓ EDGAR — 2024-04-02
  • 2024 (calendar year, exact date undisclosed in 20-F): POET delists common shares from the TSX Venture Exchange, leaving Nasdaq as the sole stock exchange. The 2026-03-31 20-F flags the delisting in its FPI-status risk factor (Item 3.D), warning that subsequent capital raises drawn primarily from US investors may push POET below the FPI threshold on the next 2026-06-30 determination. ✓ Form 20-F filed 2026-03-31, Item 3.D risk factor
  • 2024-05-08: Schedule 13G filed by an institutional reporter (accession 0001104659-24-058822) — first 13G hit reflecting the broader institutional-base development that followed the Nasdaq uplist. ✓ EDGAR — SC 13G 2024-05-08
  • 2024-07-19: 424B5 ATM take-down (accession 0001493152-24-028521). ✓ EDGAR — 2024-07-19
  • 2024-12-05: Robert (Bob) Tirva appointed Director — former President/COO/CFO of Sonim Technologies; later succeeds Chris Tsiofas as Audit Committee Chair (chair role transferred 2025-05-13). ✓ Form 20-F filed 2026-03-31, Item 6.A
  • 2024-12-31: POET acquires Sanan IC’s 24.8% interest in SPX for $6,500,000 in convertible debt (interest-free, five-year amortization 2025–2029, conversion-price formula = max of 30-day VWAP or prior-day Nasdaq close). Acquisition treated as asset acquisition under IFRS 3 (SPX did not meet the IFRS-3 “business” threshold). Non-cash loss of $6,852,687 booked in fiscal 2024 on the transaction. ✓ Form 20-F filed 2026-03-31, Item 5.A — Year Ended Dec 31, 2024 vs. 2023
  • 2024 (cumulative): Capital raised — $82,176,180 net proceeds through equity offerings, option/warrant exercises, and ATM use. ✓ Form 20-F filed 2026-03-31, Item 5.B Financing Activities

Recent Capital-Raise Cluster (2025)

2026 Year-To-Date

  • 2026-01-22: F-3ASR shelf re-up (accession 0001493152-26-003188) — second shelf in two months, providing additional follow-on-offering capacity. ✓ EDGAR — POET F-3ASR 2026-01-22
  • 2026-01-22 / 2026-01-23: 424B5 take-down filed (accession 0001493152-26-003330) for an additional offering of 20,689,656 common shares, prior-day closing $6.94. Implied gross size ≈ $143.6M at issue price (per the prospectus-supplement disclosure). ✓ EDGAR — POET 424B5 2026-01-23
  • 2026-03-31: Form 20-F for fiscal 2025 filed (accession 0001493152-26-014253) — primary annual disclosure document used as the source backbone for this KB. Auditor: Davidson & Company LLP (replaced Marcum LLP in 2024); audit committee chaired by Bob Tirva. Reports fiscal-2025 R&D expense $18.08M, S&MA $25.08M, consolidated net loss $62.96M, negative operating cash flow $31.09M. ✓ EDGAR — POET 20-F 2026-03-31
  • 2026-04-28: POET closing price $8.03 on volume of ~80.8M shares (one-day +1.0%). 52-week range: $3.78 – $15.50. ✓ data file companies/poet/data/price_snapshot.json
  • 2026-04-29 (forward-looking): Next FPI determination is 2026-06-30 — a key disclosure-cadence inflection point if the post-Nasdaq-only investor base composition has shifted POET below the FPI shareholder/officer test thresholds. The 20-F flags this explicitly as a risk. ⚠ derived from Form 20-F filed 2026-03-31, Item 3.D risk factor

Fiscal Year & Disclosure Notes

  • Fiscal year ends Dec 31 (calendar year). All figures presented under IFRS as issued by IASB (POET is an FPI; no GAAP-reconciliation requirement applies for periods on Form 20-F under SEC rules for FPIs).
  • Auditor history: Marcum LLP audited fiscal 2023; Davidson & Company LLP audited fiscal 2024 and fiscal 2025. Auditor change in 2024 disclosed in 20-F Item 5.A. ✓ Form 20-F filed 2026-03-31, Item 5.A
  • Foreign Private Issuer status: POET is currently an FPI; Form 4 insider-transaction filings under Section 16 do NOT apply. Equivalent disclosures flow through SEDI (Canada) and Schedule 13G/144 (US). ⚠ FPI determination redone annually on June 30; next test 2026-06-30.
  • Cross-reference: jv history for the SPX retrospective; leadership for executive bios; governance for board-committee mechanics; overview for capital-structure detail.