By shining an infrared light on, for example, a tomato, you can see whether it is ripe. Part of the light is reflected. Another part is absorbed. "If we collect enough data, you can use that light to see how many sugars the tomato has," says Maurangelo Petruzzella, Managing Director and co-founder of MantiSpectra. The company, a recent spin-off from Eindhoven University of Technology, has received an investment of Innovation Industries and PhotonDelta.
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 personnel. 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.”