Pixel Photonics receives funding from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research

Pixel Photonics on the way to the quantum communication revolution: millions in funding acquired for the further development of innovative single-photon detectors.

Münster - The young company Pixel Photonics, a spin-off from the Department of Physics at the University of Münster, has recently successfully completed a financing round. With an investment of 1.45 million euros, the start-up is aiming to advance its technology for detecting and counting single photons. This project is made possible by substantial research funding and support from EXIST. The company is working closely with renowned institutions such as the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster and the University of Heidelberg.

We are only at the beginning. The revolution in quantum communication has only just begun. Our team is proud to be at the forefront of this exciting era.

Dr. Wladick Hartmann, Co-Founder and CTO Pixel Photonics

Pixel Photonics is focused on the development of photon detectors with the promising potential to revolutionize quantum communication, quantum computing and medical technologies. Although the current systems are still quite large and cost-intensive, the start-up already has its first customers and is seeing increasing demand in the industry.

The Münster-based company sees enormous potential in its technology for encrypted quantum communication, quantum computers and medicine. The challenge now is to find suitable partners in the respective industries and successfully launch the products on the market. Pixel Photonics' technology enables the detection and counting of individual photons, the smallest and indivisible units of light. This paves the way for a new era of encrypted quantum communication with groundbreaking possibilities to improve the security of communication and information.

HTGF and Quantonation on board

Together with renowned partners such as the semi-public High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF), the French fund Quantonation, which specializes in quantum technology, and the entrepreneur Hendrik Sabert, Pixel Photonics plans to further develop its technology and expand its marketing and sales activities.

The company is also a partner of QuNET, a German initiative to develop a mobile quantum receiver for quantum key distribution (QKD). At the same time, Pixel Photonics is leading a project funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research. This project demonstrates the possibilities of waveguide-integrated single photon detection in a fully integrated multi-channel system for QKD (QSAMIS). Another project aims to reduce the complexity of QKD systems (RECONNAITRE).

The research project "Scalable multi-channel quantum communication platform (MultiQomm)" by Pixel Photonics aims to develop a detector chip that can fulfill various requirements for industrial applications. The most significant innovation of this project is the integration of different superconducting single photon detectors with different characteristics on a single chip. This approach enables more powerful systems with a smaller footprint, especially for applications such as quantum key distribution.