Leading Optics Developer Raises $31 Million To Scale Up Production

NIL Technology (NILT), a developer of planar optics, recently announced into a financing of €29 million ($31.2 million) to help expand its manufacturing organization and capabilities.
The financing was led by investors including Danish Export and Investment Fund, Jolt Capital, NGP Capital and Swisscanto Private Equity.
Main business and progress
Founded in Copenhagen in 2006, NILT has been at the forefront of advanced nanostructure manufacturing and describes itself as a "vertically integrated manufacturer of nanostructured planar optics - meta-optics".
As demand for its technology continues to grow, the company has matured its meta-optics technology from design to prototyping and is focusing on enhancing its NanoImpression Lithography (NIL)-based manufacturing process to meet the demand for higher volumes.
NILT's manufacturing process uses nanoimprint lithography to create wafers containing thousands of hypersurface lenses. The company will utilize its recent financing to increase its manufacturing capabilities and capacity to meet growing demand.
According to NILT, NILT's nanoimprint lithography (NIL)-based fabrication solution allows for more precise and versatile nanostructuring for higher performance meta-optics, resulting in unmatched meta-optical performance. The company said that mass production will be required in order to produce meta-optics for consumer electronics such as smartphones and AR/VR headsets, as well as automotive and robotics applications.
NILT recently launched the MetaEye eye-tracking camera, targeting applications in augmented reality, security and sensing.
Theodor Nielsen, CEO and Founder of NIL Technology commented, "I am pleased to see the strong support from our long term investors as well as new investors. Our commitment to manufacturing the best performing meta-optics, which is critical for optical modules, is due to our longstanding commitment to manufacturing advanced nanostructures combined with our know-how and capabilities in meta-optics."
Market potential
Jean-Christophe Eloy, founder and CEO of market research firm Yole Group, said, "As the ultimate evolution of optics, the meta-optics (meta-optics) market shows tremendous growth potential."
According to Yole's analysis, "Meta-optics can take optics to the next level, whether it is for compact imaging modules for the consumer market, advanced imaging for industrial, medical and automotive applications, and of course AR optics. From this perspective, the optics set market for compact camera modules alone reaches $5.25 billion in 2022."