Venture Kick supports SCALE Lasers’ latest innovations
Flawil/Zurich/Schlieren - Thanks to new funding from Venture Kick, the startup company SCALE Lasers can begin scaling up its latest class of semiconductor lasers. The work aims to push forward gas analysis – as well as, ultimately, the widespread use of laser-based sensor technology.
(CONNECT) The startup promotion organization Venture Kick from Schlieren in the canton of Zurich has allocated financing of 150,000 Swiss francs to help the micro- and nanotechnology specialist SCALE Lasers enter the market. Now, the startup from Flawil in the Swiss canton of St.Gallen can begin transitioning current pilot projects to paying customers, according to a statement.
Specifically, SCALE Lasers' solution enables the scalable implementation of portable multi-gas analyzers. The market potential in industrial and environmental gas monitoring is estimated at around 100 million US dollars, it writes. Additionally, the technology is designed to pave the way for an entire class of lasers to enter the mass market in the long term. The statement cites examples including consumer electronics and non-invasive medical diagnostics.
Developments at SCALE Lasers are closely connected to research at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH), where the company’s CEO David Stark and CTO Killian Keller completed their studies and doctorates. Their goal is to tackle a problem with existing laser-based sensor technology in the mid-infrared range, the so-called gold standard in gas analysis: namely, the fact that making it portable is hampered by the size, cost, and energy requirements of the laser sources.
SCALE Lasers' components, on the other hand, are smaller and more cost-effective and can be manufactured in a standardized semiconductor production process. As a result, they reportedly enable manufacturers to seamlessly integrate mid-infrared lasers into sensors.
“From the very beginning, Venture Kick encouraged us to think beyond pure physics and to consistently validate the commercial potential of our technology,” CEO David Stark is quoted as saying. ce/yvh