Dresden: HiperScan raises €500K to develop microchip scanner technology

Investment round completed

HiperScan, a spin-off from the Fraunhofer Institute for Photonic Microsystems in Dresden, Germany, has raised €500K in equity capital in an investment round led by High-Tech Gründerfonds. The funding will contribute to the development of HiperScan’s near infrared spectroscopy (NIR)-based microchip scanner technology, which can deflect light in a reproducible manner.

The funds invested by High-Tech Gründerfonds in HiperScan’s NIR technology will cover research and development costs, with the aim to generate a prototype, establish proof of concept and help commercialise the product. Other investors in the public–private partnership include the Federal Ministry for Economics and Technology, the KfW bank group as well as the six industrial groups BASF, Deutsche Telekom, Siemens, Robert Bosch, Daimler and Carl Zeiss.

The technology can be used to generate small and very fast near-infrared spectrometers that will optimise analytical processes in food- and process analytics as well as quality control. Andreas Olmes, of High-Tech Gründerfonds, said: “There are only a few successful products worldwide based on micro-electro-mechanical-systems (MEMS). HiperScan has succeeded in developing a product which sets new standards in the analytics market.”

Stefan Friedrichowski, of HiperScan, explains: “The capital will be consequently invested into the further development of our product portfolio and into further strengthening of our distribution channels.”