The AIRevolutionRuns on Light.

The Tuttle Capital Pure Play Photonics ETF (Ticker: FOTO) is built for investors who want focused exposure to the companies enabling the next generation of computing infrastructure.

A technology hidden in plain sight

  • AI data centers.
  • 5G networks.
  • Autonomous vehicles.
  • Next-generation medical scanners.

These applications are being reshaped by photonics, the science of generating, transmitting, and applying light. It’s the infrastructure that’s quietly moving to the center of modern computing.

Many investors haven't heard of photonics. That's part of the opportunity.

Why photonics, why now

The AI infrastructure buildout runs on optical interconnects.

Copper runs into hard limits at the speeds and power efficiencies AI demands. At AI scale, the faster data is pushed through copper, the more the signal converts to heat rather than information, making copper one of the largest power draws in a modern data center.

Silicon photonics and coherent optics are taking the lead in how this infrastructure gets built, with hyperscalers committing hundreds of billions to scale it.

Source: Brown Advisory, "The Data Center Balancing Act: Powering Sustainable AI Growth," September 2025, and Mordor Intelligence U.S. Photonics Market Report, March 2026

Photonics is hitting commercial scale across multiple industries at once.

LiDAR is becoming standard in automotive. 5G densification is driving sustained optical demand. Industrial laser systems are displacing mechanical processes across manufacturing. This is not a single‑application story; it’s already scaling across industries.

U.S. policy is actively building out the supply chain.

Federal investment is reshoring photonics fabrication. Defense budgets for directed-energy and advanced sensing are expanding multi-year backlogs. The companies this fund targets are benefiting from tailwinds on both the demand and supply side.

The photonics thesis does not depend on a single outcome for AI.

If AI infrastructure scaling continues at its current pace, photonics could emerge as a dominant interconnect architecture across data centers globally. If growth moderates and inference shifts toward the edge, optical I/O still offers meaningful power efficiency and bandwidth advantages at scale. The underlying physics case is supported by tailwinds on both the demand and supply side.

The photonics opportunity

FOTO targets companies across the full photonics stack, from the components that generate and move light, to the systems that apply it, to the equipment that makes production possible. The opportunity spans industries many investors already follow closely.

AI Data Centers

Optical Communications

Silicon photonics, transceivers, coherent optics, and photonic integrated circuits move data between chips and servers at speeds and power efficiencies copper wire can't match.

5G and Telecom Networks

Optical Communications

Fiber optic systems, coherent optical components, and wavelength division multiplexing carry the bandwidth that next-generation networks demand.

Autonomous Vehicles

Sensing and Imaging

LiDAR sensors use laser light to map environments in real time, forming the eyes of self-driving systems.

Medical Imaging and Diagnostics

Sensing and Imaging

Optical coherence tomography, photodynamic therapy, and laser surgery are expanding what's possible in clinical care.

Industrial Manufacturing

Industrial and Scientific Lasers

High-power laser systems and beam delivery platforms cut, weld, and inspect with precision that mechanical tools can't achieve.

Defense and Aerospace

Optoelectronics and Sensing

Directed-energy systems, infrared imaging, and advanced sensing rely on photonics at the hardware level.

The Fund may invest in U.S. and non-U.S. issuers across developed and emerging markets and expects to focus primarily on small- and mid-capitalization companies, where pure-play photonics exposure is most concentrated.

The photonics stack

FOTO targets companies across five interdependent layers of photonics infrastructure — each essential, each with meaningful barriers to entry:

Lasers

the components that generate pulses of light to carry data through fiber

Transceivers

the devices that convert electrical signals into light and back again

Silicon Photonics

optical components integrated directly onto silicon wafers, putting optics on the chip

InP Wafers

the indium phosphide raw material that generates the specific light wavelengths high-speed lasers require, with few viable alternatives at AI‑scale bandwidths

Foundries

the fabrication facilities manufacturing photonic integrated circuits at volume

What makes FOTO different

Focused, Not Broad

Most technology ETFs that touch photonics own large diversified companies where photonics is one business line among many. FOTO applies a rigorous revenue screen to seek companies where photonics is the primary business, not a footnote.

Active, Not Passive

The photonics industry is specialized and fast-moving. The most compelling opportunities are often smaller companies that may not fully capture. FOTO is actively managed, giving the advisor the flexibility to identify innovators across the full photonics stack.

Pure Play, Not Peripheral

To be considered for FOTO, a company must generally derive the majority of its revenues or operating profits from photonics-related products or services. When you own FOTO, you own focused exposure to companies involved in photonics, not a diversified technology fund with photonics buried inside it.

Early, Not Late

The companies at the core of this theme — the laser manufacturers, transceiver suppliers, silicon photonics wafer producers — are mostly small, specialist businesses. FOTO's active, pure-play mandate is designed to provide focused exposure to exactly these companies, before the market fully catches on.

About Matthew Tuttle

Tuttle Capital Management

Matthew Tuttle is CEO of Tuttle Capital Management, an independent ETF issuer with over two decades in the investment industry. Tuttle Capital's approach is built around a single idea: find where a macro theme creates a specific, structural bottleneck — then build a focused, actively managed vehicle around it.

Go to Tuttle Capital's Site

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Disclosures

An investment in the Fund entails risk. The Fund may not achieve its leveraged investment objective and there is a risk that you could lose all of your money invested in the Fund. The Fund is not a complete investment program. In addition, the Fund presents risks not traditionally associated with other mutual funds and ETFs. It is important that investors closely review all of the risks listed below and understand them before making an investment in the Fund.

 

Photonics Industry Risk. Companies engaged in photonics-related businesses are subject to risks associated with rapid technological change, short product development cycles, evolving industry standards, and frequent product introductions. Technological advances may render existing products obsolete or uncompetitive. The photonics industry is characterized by intense competition, including from larger, more diversified companies with greater financial, technical, and marketing resources.

 

Demand for photonics components and systems may fluctuate significantly based on capital spending cycles, telecommunications infrastructure deployment, semiconductor fabrication capacity expansion, industrial automation investment, defense and aerospace procurement cycles, healthcare technology adoption, and broader macroeconomic conditions. A slowdown in any of these end markets may adversely affect revenues and profitability of photonics-related companies.

 

Many photonics-related businesses depend on specialized materials, precision manufacturing processes, and complex supply chains. Disruptions in the availability of key components, raw materials, or fabrication capacity may negatively impact production and margins. In addition, regulatory changes, export controls, intellectual property disputes, or shifts in government funding priorities may materially affect certain segments of the photonics industry.

 

Technology Sector Risk. The Fund expects to have significant exposure to technology-related companies. Technology companies may experience rapid changes in technology, evolving customer preferences, frequent new product introductions, and aggressive pricing competition. These companies may be particularly vulnerable to product obsolescence and may face risks related to cybersecurity incidents, data breaches, intellectual property protection and infringement claims, and regulatory scrutiny.

 

Technology companies often rely on global supply chains and outsourced manufacturing, which may expose them to geopolitical tensions, trade restrictions, tariffs, and supply disruptions. Many technology companies also depend on a limited number of key customers, suppliers, or distribution partners, and the loss of one or more such relationships may adversely affect financial performance.

 

Semiconductor and Capital Equipment Risk. Companies involved in optoelectronic device manufacturing, compound semiconductor production, silicon photonics, and related capital equipment are subject to cyclical demand patterns and may experience significant revenue and earnings volatility. The semiconductor industry has historically been highly cyclical, characterized by periods of oversupply, pricing pressure, and inventory corrections.

 

Such companies may be affected by export controls, trade restrictions, and geopolitical tensions that limit access to key markets or restrict the transfer of advanced technologies. Capital equipment manufacturers depend heavily on capital expenditure budgets of semiconductor fabrication facilities and other advanced manufacturing customers, which may be reduced during economic downturns. Supply chain disruptions, manufacturing complexity, and high fixed-cost structures may amplify financial volatility during periods of reduced demand.

 

Small- and Mid-Capitalization Company Risk. The Fund may invest significantly in small- and mid-capitalization companies, which may be more volatile and more vulnerable to adverse business or economic developments than large-capitalization companies. These companies may have limited product lines, narrower markets, less diversified revenue streams, limited financial resources, and less experienced management teams.

 

Securities of small- and mid-capitalization companies may trade less frequently and in lower volumes than those of larger companies, which may result in greater price volatility and reduced liquidity. During market downturns or periods of market stress, these securities may decline in value more sharply and may be more difficult to sell at desired prices.

 

Early-Stage and Pre-Revenue Company Risk. The Fund may invest in early-stage, development-phase, or recently public companies that may not yet generate meaningful revenues or profits. These companies may face significant uncertainty regarding the successful development, commercialization, and market acceptance of their products and technologies.

 

Early-stage companies may depend on external financing to fund operations and research and development activities, and such financing may not be available on favorable terms, or at all. These companies may also face regulatory hurdles, technological feasibility risks, competitive pressures, and execution challenges. Securities of early-stage companies may be highly volatile and speculative, and investments in such companies may result in substantial losses.

 

Non-U.S. and Emerging Markets Risk. The Fund may invest in securities of non-U.S. issuers, including issuers located in emerging markets. Investments in non-U.S. securities involve risks that may not be present with investments in U.S. securities, including fluctuations in currency exchange rates; differences in accounting, auditing, and financial reporting standards; less stringent regulatory environments; reduced liquidity; and higher transaction costs.

 

Non-U.S. markets may be more susceptible to political instability, changes in government policies, trade disputes, expropriation, nationalization, and social unrest. Emerging markets, in particular, may experience heightened volatility, capital controls, weaker legal systems, limited investor protections, and greater geopolitical risk. These factors may adversely affect the value and liquidity of the Fund’s investments.

 

Concentration Risk. Because the Fund focuses on companies engaged in photonics-related businesses, it may concentrate its investments in a limited number of industries or sectors. As a result, the Fund may be more susceptible than a diversified fund to adverse economic, regulatory, technological, or market developments affecting the photonics industry or related sectors.

 

Developments such as reductions in capital expenditures, technological disruption, regulatory changes, supply chain constraints, or decreased demand in key end markets may have a disproportionate impact on the Fund’s performance. The Fund’s returns may therefore be more volatile than those of a broadly diversified fund.

 

Active Management Risk. The Fund is actively-managed and may not meet its investment objective based on the Adviser’s success or failure to implement its investment strategies for the Fund. The success of the Fund’s investment program depends largely on the investment techniques applied by the Adviser. It is possible the investment techniques employed on behalf of the Fund will not produce the desired results.

 

Equity Securities Risk. Equity securities may be more volatile than other asset classes, and their market prices may change quickly and without warning. The value of the equity securities held by the Fund may decrease due to general market conditions or other factors unrelated to a particular issuer. A decline in the value of the equity securities in which the Fund invests will adversely affect the Fund.

 

Cyber Security Risk. The Fund is susceptible to operational risks through breaches in cyber security. A breach in cyber security refers to both intentional and unintentional events that may cause the Fund to lose proprietary information, suffer data corruption or lose operational capacity. Such events could cause the Fund to incur regulatory penalties, reputational damage, additional compliance costs associated with corrective measures and/or financial loss. Cyber security breaches may involve unauthorized access to the Fund’s digital information systems through hacking or malicious software coding but may also result from outside attacks such as denial-of-service attacks through efforts to make network services unavailable to intended users. In addition, cyber security breaches of the issuers of securities in which the Fund invests or the Fund’s third-party service providers, such as its administrator, transfer agent, custodian, or sub-advisor, as applicable, can also subject the Fund to many of the same risks associated with direct cyber security breaches. Although the Fund has established risk management systems designed to reduce the risks associated with cyber security, there is no guarantee that such efforts will succeed, especially because the Fund does not directly control the cyber security systems of issuers or third-party service providers.

 

Inflation Risk. Inflation risk is the risk that the value of assets or income from investments will be less in the future as inflation decreases the value of money. As inflation increases, the present value of the Fund’s assets and distributions may decline.

 

Investment Risk. As with all investments, an investment in the Fund is subject to loss, including the possible loss of the entire principal amount of an investment, over short or long periods of time.

 

Market Risk. The trading prices of securities and derivative instruments fluctuate in response to economic, financial, or political events that impact the entire market, specific sectors, or individual issuers. The Fund’s NAV and market price may fluctuate significantly. Because the Fund’s strategy provides exposure to photonics-related securities, a decline in the value of those securities will adversely affect the Fund.

 

Transaction Cost Risk. The Fund will pay transaction costs, including commissions and bid-ask spreads, when it buys and sells options and other securities. Because the Fund expects to enter into and close options positions on a daily basis, it will incur high transaction costs. While turnover of options may not be reflected in traditional portfolio turnover metrics, the economic impact to the Fund may be similar to that of a fund with high portfolio turnover. These transaction costs may negatively affect the Fund’s performance and may result in higher taxable distributions.

 

ETF Risks. The Fund is an exchange-traded fund, and, as a result of an ETF’s structure, it is exposed to the following risks:

  • Authorized Participants, Market Makers, and Liquidity Providers Limitation Risk. The Fund has a limited number of financial institutions that may act as Authorized Participants (“APs”). In addition, there may be a limited number of market makers and/or liquidity providers in the marketplace. To the extent either of the following events occur, Shares may trade at a material discount to NAV and possibly face delisting: (i) APs exit the business or otherwise become unable to process creation and/or redemption orders and no other APs step forward to perform these services, or (ii) market makers and/or liquidity providers exit the business or significantly reduce their business activities and no other entities step forward to perform their functions.
  • Cash Redemption Risk. The Fund intends to redeem Shares for cash or to otherwise include cash as part of its redemption proceeds. The Fund may be required to sell or unwind portfolio investments to obtain the cash needed to distribute redemption proceeds. This may cause the Fund to recognize a capital gain that it might not have recognized if it had made a redemption in-kind. As a result, the Fund may pay out higher annual capital gain distributions than if the in-kind redemption process was used.Costs of Buying or Selling Shares
  • Shares May Trade at Prices Other Than NAV. As with all ETFs, Shares may be bought and sold in the secondary market at market prices. Although it is expected that the market price of Shares will approximate the Fund’s NAV, there may be times when the market price of Shares is more than the NAV intra-day (premium) or less than the NAV intra-day (discount) due to supply and demand of Shares or during periods of market volatility. This risk is heightened in times of market volatility and volatility in the Fund’s portfolio holdings, periods of steep market declines, and periods when there is limited trading activity for Shares in the secondary market, in which case such premiums or discounts may be significant. If an investor purchases Shares at a time when the market price is at a premium to the NAV of the Shares or sells at a time when the market price is at a discount to the NAV of the Shares, then the investor may sustain losses that are in addition to any losses caused by a decrease in NAV.Trading
  • Costs of Buying or Selling Shares. Due to the costs of buying or selling Shares, including brokerage commissions imposed by brokers and bid/ask spreads, frequent trading of Shares may significantly reduce investment results and an investment in Shares may not be advisable for investors who anticipate regularly making small investments.Shares May Trade at Prices Other Than NAV
  • Trading. Although Shares are listed for trading on a national securities exchange, and may be traded on other U.S. exchanges, there can be no assurance that Shares will trade with any volume, or at all, on any stock exchange. In stressed market conditions, the liquidity of Shares may begin to mirror the liquidity of the Fund’s underlying portfolio holdings, which can be significantly less liquid than Fund Shares.

Non-Diversification Risk. The Fund is classified as non-diversified under the 1940 Act and may invest a greater percentage of its assets in a smaller number of issuers or instruments than a diversified fund. As a result, the Fund may be more susceptible to risks associated with a single economic, political, or regulatory event affecting those issuers or instruments.

 

New Fund Risk. As of the date of this prospectus, the Fund has no operating history and currently has fewer assets than larger funds. Like other new funds, large inflows and outflows may impact the Fund’s market exposure for limited periods of time. This impact may be positive or negative, depending on the direction of market movement during the period affected.

 

The Shares will change in value, and you could lose money by investing in the Fund. The Fund may not achieve its investment objective.

Investors should consider the investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses carefully before investing.  For a prospectus with this and other information about the fund, please call (833) 759-6110.  Please read the prospectus carefully before investing.

Distributor: Foreside Fund Services