Cirtemo, which incorporated University of South Carolina-born MagAssemble, has been acquired by Thorlabs for an unspecified amount.
Cirtemo, a US-based optics technology developer partly exploiting University of South Carolina (USC) research, was today acquired by optical system components manufacturer Thorlabs for an undisclosed sum.
Financial terms of the acquisition have not been disclosed. The deal involved the purchase of USC spinout MagAssemble, which was “recently consolidated” with Citremo, according to Thorlabs’ statement, though further details could not be ascertained.
Founded in 2012, Cirtemo designs and manufacturers optical filters that can detect complex chemical compounds. The technology allows for spectroscopic analysis at the speed of light and has applications in a wide range of sectors from life sciences to pet nutrition.
MagAssemble’s technology can be used to fabricate patterned nanoscale structures, which have applications in photonics-enabled products.
MagAssemble was founded by Thomas Crawford, a physics professor at the University of South Carolina, who partnered Jason Williamson, founder and chief executive of Cirtemo, to commercialise MagAssemble’s manufacturing process.
Cirtemo had emerged out of Ometric, an optical filters spinout of USC that Willamson had established together with chemistry professor Mickey Myrick. Williamson licensed the non-energy related intellectual property of Ometric when the latter was acquired by energy firm Halliburton in 2011.
Following the acquisition, the Cirtemo team will continue to be based in South Carolina and will form a division called Thorlabs Spectral Works, functioning as an R&D lab under Thorlabs’ Optics Business Unit.
MagAssemble does not appear to have disclosed details of equity funding prior to the Cirtemo merger, though Cirtemo received $500,000 from unnamed investors in June 2018, according to a regulatory filing.