Start-up credit for laser start-up

Midel Phototonics wants to develop individually optimized lasers for industrial production. Now the people behind the idea are receiving a high six-figure sum from the "EXIST Transfer of Research" funding program.

It is not yet a start-up, but a start has been made: the idea of individually tunable high-performance lasers has been included in the "EXIST Transfer of Research" funding program, which is supported by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy and the European Social Fund. David Dung, Christian Wahl, Christopher Grossert and Frederik Wolf from the University of Bonn are the originators and developers of the idea. The name of the upcoming start-up is Midel Phototonics.

The funding program is designed to turn the idea into an industrial prototype and gives the four developers 18 months to achieve the goals they have set themselves. They have to develop a business model, as the plan is to found a company at the end of the program. The financial support amounts to 750,000 euros.

Lasers are needed in many areas of industry, but so far round lasers have often been used: "It's like trying to turn any type of screw with a cordless screwdriver using a single cross-shaped attachment. It would be much easier with a suitable attachment," explains Dung. In this case, the attachment, to stick with the metaphor, is the laser developed by the four physicists.