Photondelta and Innovation Industries invest in groundbraking optical spectroscopy starty-up: Mantispectra
Together with Innovation Industries, PhotonDelta invests seed capital in MantiSpectra, a recent spin-off from Eindhoven University of Technology. MantiSpectra is developing an innovative near infrared (NIR) spectrometer technology using photonic integrated chips. Spectrometers can measure the chemical composition of a sample by using light. Current solutions tend to be bulky, expensive and need to be operated in labs by well-trained personel. By using photonic integrated chips (PICs), MantiSpectra is able to make them cheaper, smaller and easier to use, making the technology accessible to a wide range of application areas and markets. The investment enables MantiSpectra to expand the team and industrialize the product, a standalone spectrometer, targeting the agri-food sector at first and other sectors in years to come.
Maurangelo Petruzzella, Managing Director and co-founder of MantiSpectra: “With this investment MantiSpectra is able to make the next steps to bring this promising technology to the market. This includes attracting highly qualified personnel to expand the team and industrializing and scaling up the product and manufacturing processes. Furthermore, PhotonDelta also gives us access to a rich ecosystem of integrated photonics players, providing us with guidance and possibilities. We believe that through a broad and universal adoption of spectroscopy we will bridge the gap between integrated photonic technology and various application areas, including agri and green tech, pharma and medical, becoming a ‘ growth engine’ for the integrated photonics industry at large”
Sander Verbrugge, General Partner of Innovation industries: "MantiSpectra has the potential to play an important role in mass adoption of affordable, miniaturized spectrometers. We have invested this seed round with our Thematic Technology Transfer Fund and look forward to supporting the team to develop their unique technology and grow a position in multiple application markets"
Ewit Roos, CEO PhotonDelta “MantiSpectra is a promising startup that will revolutionize the spectrometer landscape. Providing startups like MantiSpectra with a toolbox for growth is essential for the Dutch integrated photonics cluster to thrive over the medium and long term. It will generate new innovative businesses that make use of the leading-edge supply-chain we have in The Netherlands and reinforce the position of The Netherlands as a global leader in the high-tech scene. That is why we have created our PhotonDelta Startup programme.”
PhotonDelta and MantiSpectra will both be attending CES 2021, world’s biggest technology event taking place virtually from the 11th until the 14th of January, 2021. There, the world will be able to discover the full potential of the technology and future partakers can experience what PhotonDelta Start-up Studio truely embodies.
About MantiSpectra
MantiSpectra is a vertically integrated spin-off from Eindhoven University of Technology, developing a chip-based Near-Infrared (NIR) spectral sensor. Optical spectroscopy has been widely used for the identification and quantification of materials in many applications, ranging from agri-food and quality control, to healthcare and pharmaceutics. It offers a fast, contactless, and non-invasive method to retrieve the chemical components of materials without the need for sample preparation. So far, spectrometers have been mainly adopted in research laboratories due to their large dimensions, cost, and complexity. MantiSpectra is bringing spectroscopic analysis to the field with the potential to integrate spectral modules in many devices that we use in our daily life.
About Innovation Industries and the Thematic Technology Transfer Fund
The investment in MantiSpectra is made from a dedicated early-stage technology transfer fund, Smart Industries Fund. The fund is managed by Innovation Industries (www.innovationindustries.com) and is based on a collaboration between the 4 Dutch Technical universities, TNO and RVO. Innovation Industries is an independent venture capital investor that provides accelerator capital and strategic support to Dutch High-tech, MedTech and Agri & Food Tech businesses with innovative proprietary technology, solving real-world problems in identifiable markets. Innovation Industries uses a market-driven approach to create long term value in high technology start-up and scale-up companies.
About PhotonDelta
PhotonDelta is a growth accelerator for the Dutch integrated photonics industry. Integrated photonics is a key enabling technology that generates, processes and detects light for applications traditionally addressed with electronics. Our objective is to promote the use of integrated photonics and demonstrate the capabilities of the Dutch supply-chain, a global leader in the field. Our team of experts actively supports our partners by giving them access to funding, knowledge and a wide network of companies and knowledge institutions. We strive to speed up the adoption of photonic integrated chips as it will revolutionize many industries and overcome global societal challenges.
About PhotonDelta Start-up Studio
PhotonDelta foresees a wave of fabless integrated photonics components vendors to address the wide number of market opportunities. PhotonDelta can facilitate these initiatives through the PhotonDelta Startup Studio programme. The program leverages on established incubator programs and provides startups with access to coaching, early-stage funding and prioritized access to a network of integrated photonic companies, knowledge institues and early-adopting customers.