Fiber-alignment technology from Eindhoven attracts €1M

Startup Microalign has secured 1 million euros in seed funding to accelerate the commercialization of its micro-positioning system capable of accurately aligning multiple optical fibers. Several photonic components and applications, including optical switches, amplifiers, laser arrays and quantum computers, require such high-quality fiber connections.

“Over the past three years, Microalign has developed technology to manipulate optical fibers with unmatched precision, generating already four patents describing revolutionary approaches in the critical optical fiber alignment operation. This technology is based on the smallest fiber alignment actuator in the world and represents a groundbreaking solution for the industry. We’re currently laser-sharp focused on developing further our technology to realize ultra-high accuracy fiber arrays,” says Microalign CTO Marco Fattori.

Even though several photonics-based markets can benefit from Microalign’s technology, quantum photonic computing represents the field that most urgently needs such a fiber array technology to be developed, says CEO Simone Cardarelli. “Microalign’s fiber array product is a key enabling technology for quantum photonic computing applications, where every photon counts in the fiber-to-chip connection. Exponential benefits in quantum computing efficiency can be indeed achieved with a high-accuracy fiber array component.”

Microalign is the only company in Europe that has proven to meet the stringent requirements for fiber alignment in the promising and demanding quantum photonic computing domain. Other technology trends driven by the growing demands for data traffic and AI computing also present major opportunities for the Eindhoven University of Technology spinoff.

The funding round was led by the Dutch venture capital firms DeeptechXL and Photonventures. Previous financiers include NWO, Smart Industry Fund, Photondelta, Nxtgen and MRE.