ANALYSIS AND OPINION STARTUP SUCCESS
“Who would have thought 10 years ago that reliable femtosecond lasers are now so prevalent in industry and have a constantly growing market share?”
develop a sustainable business based on our previous research. This allows them to be prepared for the next rounds of financing through application-oriented research grants and BA/VC funding.
Looking back, I realise
Figure 2: a) Multiphoton imaging of a Drosophila larva using MicPulse’s ultrafast semiconductor disk laser. Fluorescence from mKate2 and SHG signals from sarcomeres in the muscles. b) Image of the sarcomeres at a higher zoom showing the characteristic double-band structure
or eye surgery applications – ultrafast sources are still rather complex and too expensive to become integrated in large markets (>10k units a year). While it took a long time to see CO₂ or diode lasers integrated in mass-market products, nowadays, laser-based systems priced at just a few thousand dollars – such as laser 3D printers, laser cutting machines and many more – are widely available. We anticipate that the cost of our ultrafast lasers could open up multiple applications, while mature and standardised
components trickle down from high-end and high-price markets. Who would have forecast just 10 years ago that reliable femtosecond lasers are now so prevalent in industry and have a constantly growing market share?
The entrepreneurial journey My entrepreneurial journey started almost 18 months ago, when thorough analysis showed that the semiconductor technology being developed for more than 15 years by Professor Ursula Keller’s laboratory at ETH Zürich3
had now reached a
performance and maturity level that was suited for commercialisation. With origins at the
Optoelectronics Research Centre in Southampton (UK), the first mode-locked semiconductor disk lasers were realised at ETH in 2000. Since then, the performance has constantly improved, reaching the sub-100fs or watt-level milestones recently. Nowadays, more than 20 research groups are working on related topics from laser research to application development. In order to pursue this
journey, I had the chance to receive a BRIDGE proof- of-concept grant from the Swiss government4
. It allows
Figure 3: Evolution of the number of publications related to vertical external cavity surface emitting lasers (VECSELs) showing the growing trends of development
www.electrooptics.com | @electrooptics
researchers to start a kind- of ‘intrapreneurship within the university’. Coming with financial and administrative support, it aims to help researchers develop a full understanding of the business opportunities that could be created with the technology in question. In a 12-18 month timeframe, it gives support for prototype development, travelling, and other business dealings. The grant is a unique chance for evaluating how to
that, in order to develop an appropriate and convincing product, talking regularly to potential customers and researchers in the targeted application field is crucial. Doing one’s homework correctly by evaluating production costs and the unique selling proposition is another important aspect of such a project. Turning a research prototype into a product is a lengthy process, and the value it will bring to customers in the end may greatly differ from the initial thoughts. Thus, if you are to start on such a journey, do not forget to keep focus, and always keep your eyes open without assuming that past decisions and visions were always correct. EO
www.micpulse.ch www.linkedin.com/in/ florianemaury
Dr Florian Emaury leads the startup project MicPulse, in collaboration with ETH Zürich. After graduating in 2010 from the Institut d’Optique Graduate School (IOGS) in Paris (MSc in Photonics/Physics), his career started with engineer experiences in Fianium (UK) and Coherent (CA, USA) before joining ETH Zürich to obtain a PhD in Physics in 2015.
References:
1 Voigt,V F., et al. 2017. Multiphoton in vivo imaging with a femtosecond semiconductor disk laser. Biomedical Optics Express, [Online]. 8, 3213-3231. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1364/ BOE.8.003213
2
www.hifo.uzh.ch/en/research/ helmchen.html
3
www.ulp.ethz.ch/
4
http://bridge.ch/en/for-young- researchers-proof-of-concept/
December 2017/January 2018 Electro Optics 33
Credit:
https://doi.org/10.1364/BOE.8.003213
Dr Florian Emaury / MicPulse
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