KonTem acquired by FEI

KonTem, a Germany-based spin-out of the Max Planck Society and the research centre Caesar, has been acquired by FEI. The mergers and acquistion mandate for the successful exit was carried out by High-Tech Gründerfonds.

KonTem is based on research conducted at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysics in Frankfurt. It was then further developed at Centre of Advanced European Studies and Research (Caesar) – associated with the Max Planck Society – and turned into a marketable product.

KonTem’s technology, a phase contrast system for transmission electron microscopy (TEM), enables a two to three times better image contrast without compromising resolution. TEM is a microscopy technique in which a beam of electrons is transmitted through an ultra-thin specimen, interacting with the specimen as it passes through. An image is formed from the interaction of the electrons transmitted through the specimen. The magnified image can show detail as fine as a single column of atoms. TEM is used in cancer research, virology, materials science as well as pollution, nanotechnology, and semiconductor research.

FEI is an Oregon-based manufacturer of instruments to find very small defects. It has research and development centres in the US, the Netherlands, China, Japan, the Czech Republic and Australia. Its product are sold in more than 50 countries. Its revenue for 2013 was $927.5m (up $36m from 2012) with a net income of $126.7m (up $12m).

Florian Kirschenhofer, startup manager at Max-Planck-Innovation, Max Planck’s technology transfer organisation, said: “KonTem exemplifies that fundamental research as it is conducted by the Max Planck Society can be the basis for innovative and market-driven products.”