Amsterdam-based Optics11, a life science instrumentation company that specialises in fibre optics, has reportedly secured €17M in new funding to advance its mission of safeguarding Europe’s critical infrastructure.

The round was led by Forward.One, a Dutch venture capital fund focused on industrial and physical technologies.

New investors, including SET Ventures (Netherlands) and Join Capital (Germany), also joined them in the funding round, reports FD.nl.

The funding announcement comes in the midst of growing geopolitical concerns. 

Notably, the company made a turnover of €4.5M last year, the report adds. 

Optics11: Specialising in fibre optics

Led by Dutch Marine officer Paul Heiden, Optics11 develops fibre-optic sensor technology designed to detect threats and mechanical faults across submarine cables, transformer stations, and other hard-to-reach infrastructure assets.

Under Heiden’s leadership, the Amsterdam company set out to focus on two sectors — defence and energy.

In the energy sector, Optics11’s sensors help identify early signs of wear in Europe’s old transformer network. There are more than 90,000 transformer stations in Europe, and almost half are over 40 years old. This makes preventative maintenance essential.

On the defence side, the Dutch company is pioneering solutions that detect underwater sabotage attempts, such as those recently suspected in the Baltic Sea.

In September 2024, Heiden set out to raise €10M to finance production.

Initially, this proved challenging, as defence technology was not appealing to investors at the time, states the report.

However, the situation changed in November when investors started reaching out to him.

He noted, “Cables had just been severed by anchors in the Baltic Sea.”

The company currently operates out of Amsterdam-Zuidoost, employing around 70 people.