Innoseis, an Amsterdam-based developer of high-tech vibration sensors on a chip, has secured six million euros in private investment through the investment firm FORWARD.one.
This was announced today. Innoseis Sensor Technologies is a Nikhef spin-off that supplies so-called MEMS technology—chips with microscopic mechanical elements capable of detecting in vibrations. Applications for this technology include geophysics, navigation, and aerospace.
Innoseis’ MEMS sensors are extremely precise and energy-efficient, allowing them to be used as stand-alone devices. Much of the technology was developed in the context of vibration studies for gravitational wave observatories. This requires measurement in high-noise environments.
According to Innoseis Director Mark Beker, the company’s technology is the first to successfully realize chip-scale sensors. “This allows us to measure what was previously unmeasurable.”
Innoseis’s goal is to become the international market leader in the field of precision vibration measurements. To that end, the new investments will streamline production and further expand sales and marketing, according to Beker.
For FORWARD.one, Innoseis is a company capable of disrupting markets. “They previously conquered the international market for seismic sensors. Now they are targeting a market ten times larger,” says Julia Kuijs of the investment firm.
Innoseis was founded in 2013 as a spin-off project within Nikhef and became independent in 2020. The company employs ten people. Innoseis previously made headlines when the company’s sensors were sent on an Australian flight to the Moon as part of the so-called SPIDER project.
Nikhef Institute Manager Arjen van Rijn is delighted with the success of the commercially successful spin-off. “This investment is a wonderful illustration that technology developed at Nikhef is also found to be valuable outside of the scientific community—literally. We are immensely proud of that.”
