Mapsi Photonics, a startup dedicated to developing infrared filters based on macroporous
silicon, has closed a round with Bullnet Capital. The €1.5 million investment will allow Mapsi
Photonics to advance in the development of its technology, derived from the doctoral work of
its founders, industrialize the manufacturing process, and expand its product range.
Infrared filters are used in a wide variety of applications, from photography to detection and
sensing. However, traditional manufacturing techniques have mechanical and optical
limitations that hinder the infrared detection market.
Mapsi Photonics has developed a disruptive technology that addresses these limitations;
instead of adding hundreds of layers to a substrate to confer optical properties, Mapsi
perforates the substrate, made of pure silicon, through electrochemical etching. This
manufacturing process consumes very little energy and has nanometric precision, allowing for
filters with higher resolution, wider operational range, and greater mechanical robustness. Not
to mention that, by eliminating the hundreds of layers of contaminating materials, we greatly
reduce the ecological and social footprint of current technology.
The injection of capital by Bullnet will be crucial for the industrialization of Mapsi Photonics’
technology and also for continuing to develop disruptive products that help advance the
infrared detection market, not only in existing applications but also in new ones, such as the
miniaturization of gas sensors or high-definition detection of contaminants in extreme
conditions. In fact, the company is collaborating with a couple of clients on the development of
two types of infrared optical filters that will simplify and make gas detection more accurate in
industrial chimneys using thermal cameras. The goal of these innovations is to comply with
current regulations that require polluting industries to continuously and with high quality
monitor the gases they emit in order to achieve the SDGs on climate change.
Bullnet Capital is a Spanish independent venture capital investment firm with a solid track
record of success in investing in high-tech companies. Miguel del Cañizo and Javier Ulecia,
founding partners of Bullnet Capital, comment: «Mapsi Photonics has demonstrated
exceptional ability to reinvent the way infrared filters are conceived. From Bullnet, we believe
that this investment will help Mapsi’s team to industrialize their developments on a large scale
and make their filters the new standard for a wide range of industrial applications.»
Mapsi Photonics is led by a team of doctors with extensive experience in the photonics sector,
both in research and industry. David Cardador Maza and Daniel Segura Garcia, co-founders of
the project, state: «The investment comes at the right time for Mapsi. We want to transition
from a startup to a scaleup, and we are confident that we will achieve this with Bullnet as our
partner on this journey.»