Aircision launched from the first deep-tech cohort after HighTechXL switched from a conventional high tech accelerator back in 2018. And the team has been pushing hard every day since then building, testing and perfecting communications links using laser technology with a next generation active alignment system.
Aircision builds high capacity (20 gigabits per second) Free Space Optics (FSO) systems that are easy and quick to integrate into existing telecom networks. Thanks to their proprietary, patent pending technology, their wireless alternative for backhaul communication can transmit over long distances (more than 5 km) with low latency and high security.
In 2020, Aircision tested its first proof of concept in a full-scale outdoor test. Since then, they increased distance and bandwidth. By May 2021, Aircision tested their laser beams over 10 gbps and more than 2.5 kilometers in Den Haag.
And that’s just the beginning.
“We are entering the market of wireless communications with a product capable of 20 gigabits per second at five kilometers,” said Daniele Raiteri, Accerion CTO. “No radio solutions can achieve that … and that’s only the beginning.
“We plan to bring to the market more than 100 gbps links in less than two years,” Dani said. That would make Aircision the top performer in Free Space Optics , an increasingly promising sector, as the rollout of 5G goes global and connects rural areas that now lack broadband coverage.
“Connectivity enables prosperity and economic development, as it allows digitization and improves efficiency of all sectors or industries,” said Luis Pedro Oliveira, CEO. “Aircision envisions a new ubiquitous standard of communications and infrastructure that can make us leaner and greener.”
“Is there anything more exciting than shaping the technology powering this vision?”
It’s been a momentous two years for Aircision. Despite the pandemic, 2020 and 2021 have been years of substantial growth:
• Since the pandemic in March 2020, Aircision has doubled its space in HTC 12 on High Tech Campus Eindhoven and added team members for a total of 12. The team represents eight nationalities. “We’re pulling the best engineers globally to build our technology.”
• Facilitated nine internships with Technical University of Delft and TU/e
• CFO Betsy Lindsey won the 2020 Connectivity pitch competition at South Summit in Madrid, Spain
• Aircision was one of 25 teams out of more than 200 applications selected to attend Falling Walls Science Summit in Berlin, a forum for people solving the biggest science challenges.
Building the team is key to HighTechXL’s approach.
In the HighTechXL deep-tech venture building model, individual talents are sourced locally and team members typically don’t know each other. In the most recent pandemic cohorts, many team members didn’t meet in person until after they completed the program.
Just as important is building Eindhoven’s deep-tech ecosystem, says Betsy. “We realize we actually need to build the ground-to-ground Free Space Optics industry, based in the Netherlands and EU, to bring together a consortium of our supply chain partners to drive costs down and make our solution even more economical.”
Since September 2020, Aircision has been collaborating with TNO in a public-private partnership to test and develop its deep know-how on Free Space Optics. You can read about the partnership here.
In October 2021, Aircision finalized Stage 2 of the EIC Accelerator application for €2M in grant funding to pilot and launch their first product. If approved by end of October, Aircision will go to Brussels in January 2022 for Stage 3.
