Midel Photonics, a Bonn-based laser startup, has raised €1 million ($1.1 million) in seed funding from investors High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF) and industry experts Thomas Merk and Dr. Markus Dilger.
Founded in 2022, Midel Photonics is developing novel laser beam shaping technology to enhance efficiency in materials processing applications like cutting microchips, welding components for electric vehicles, and manufacturing displays. The funding will support bringing the technology to market more broadly.
Midel Photonics’ novel laser beam shaping technology structures the surface of laser mirrors using a micro-delamination technique called Midel. This creates continuous diffractive optical elements that can tailor the beam profile of industrial lasers to have sharper edges, more uniform intensity, and other customized shapes.
The key benefits highlighted are:
- Improves laser processing quality and efficiency for applications like cutting, welding, and marking
- Enables more agile laser solution development for customers
- Beam shapers customized and produced rapidly (within hours) based on customer requirements
- Easy integration into existing laser systems
The company claims its approach is unique due to its combination of rapid customizability and integrability. The technology has origins in quantum optics research at the University of Bonn.
