The latest €50 million round is backed by existing institutional investors FORWARD.one, Value Creation Capital, SET Ventures, and JOIN Capital, with all four reinvesting as Optics11 enters its next phase of international growth. The new capital will support increased manufacturing and international expansion, enabling the Company to respond to growing global demand, expand its operational capabilities, and deliver its technology to an increasing number of customers and partners.
The investment represents a major scale-up milestone for Optics11, reflecting both the growing commercial opportunity for its technology and the speed at which the security environment surrounding critical infrastructure has changed. Governments across the globe are reassessing their ability to protect national infrastructure as hybrid warfare increasingly extends beyond traditional military domains and into the seas, while global electricity networks face growing pressure from electrification, rising energy demand, and the need for greater grid resilience. Together, these challenges are creating significant international demand for advanced sensing technologies capable of protecting the infrastructure upon which modern economies depend.
This growing demand is reflected in Optics11’s expanding international pipeline and order book, as governments, infrastructure operators, and industrial partners increasingly recognize the advantages of fiber optic sensing, including earlier warning and more precise subsea detection compared with traditional ‘active’ electrical sensing methods. With interest growing across both underwater intelligence and energy grids, the investment will enable Optics11 to scale its operations and manufacturing capabilities to meet customer demand and support the wider deployment of its technology internationally.
Earlier this year, the Dutch Ministry of Defence selected Optics11’s containerized OptiArray technology for its ASWINABO, or Anti-Submarine Warfare In A Box, program, enabling advanced underwater sensing capability to be deployed from a much broader range of crewed and uncrewed surface vessels, including civilian ships. The program is intended to strengthen the readiness and self-sufficiency of the Royal Netherlands Navy and represents a significant validation of Optics11’s technology as nations across the globe look to rapidly increase maritime surveillance capabilities.
At the heart of Optics11 is the same fiber optic sensing technology first developed from research at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, from which the Company was founded in 2011. By using light to capture minute acoustic signals, rather than powered electronics at the sensing point, the technology remains silent and immune to electromagnetic interference while delivering exceptionally sensitive, high-quality data. This technological advantage underpins Optics11’s solutions across underwater intelligence and energy grids, offering a distinctive approach to early detection and monitoring in environments where conventional sensing technologies struggle.
Underwater, OptiBarrier provides persistent seabed sensing capable of detecting and classifying targets at distances of up to 100 kilometers from the shoreline, while OptiArray brings the same fiber optic sensing capability to a mobile towed array for anti-submarine warfare and maritime surveillance. Across energy grids, OptiFinder applies fiber optic acoustic sensing to detect and precisely localize partial discharge within high-voltage assets and is now in live deployment globally.
From activity around subsea infrastructure to the earliest signs of deterioration inside a transformer, each application is built around the principle of providing highly sensitive detection, richer information, and more time to act. As the threats facing critical infrastructure continue to evolve, the €100 million investment over 15 months represents a clear commitment to advancing this technology and expanding its availability internationally, ensuring Optics11 can continue innovating while meeting the growing security and infrastructure needs of the modern world.
Paul Heiden, CEO of Optics11, said: “This investment is a significant milestone for Optics11 and reflects the growing international demand for technology that can help protect the critical infrastructure our societies depend upon. From ASWINABO to OptiFinder, we are seeing our technology move into real-world deployment, with increasing interest from governments, operators and partners around the world. We have spent years developing the most sophisticated sensing technology capable of operating in the world’s most hostile environments. This investment gives us the ability to scale our manufacturing and international capabilities, deliver on that growing demand, and continue working with partners to bring advanced sensing technology to the markets where it is needed most.”
