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26 Nov 2025
Startup's mission is to provide advanced optical metrology based on interferometric phase imaging.
Shinephi, a recent spin-off from Valerio Pruneri’s optoelectronics research group at ICFO in Barcelona, has completed a round of seed funding worth €1 million.
The firm, which is working on an optical inspection technique aimed at the semiconductor and other nano-fabrication industries, says that the money will help accelerate its development of prototypes, and validate its core technology.
Local deep-tech investor Grow Venture Partners led the round, with additional participation from four business angels in the form of Norbert Martínez, Demian Martínez, J. L. Ferrer, and Alex Gerodimos.
The investment is part of the so-called “FITA (Fons d'Inversió Tecnologia Avançada) Fund”, which is backed by the Government of Catalonia, the Catalan Finance Institute (ICF), and the European Investment Fund (EIF), and managed by Grow Venture Partners.
Shinephi is one of the first five recipients of support from that fund, along with the quantum computing startup Qilimanjaro, satellite propulsion innovator Kreios Space, personalized medicine developer VirTest, and HealthTech Innovations (HTI), which is working on a surgical instrument combining AI with machine vision.
Lateral shearing interferometry
Representing ICFO’s 13th spin-off company, Shinephi was co-founded by CEO Roland Terborg, CTO Iris Cusini, and Pruneri.
They say that the firm’s “mission” is to provide advanced optical metrology and make it accessible to companies and laboratories in the material science and semiconductor sectors, enabling them to take control over their fabrication processes, overcome the limitations of current standards, and see their samples in a new light.
More specifically, the Shinephi team has developed a disruptive optical technology based on interferometric phase imaging known as lateral shearing interferometry (LIM).
It is said to enhance both resolution and speed in the analysis of materials and biological samples, with the system’s sensitivity claimed to exceed current techniques by a factor of more than 100.
The technology has already been used in a number of Horizon 2020 research projects, with target applications including high-speed, low-cost sepsis diagnosis, and quantum-enhanced microscopy.
However, the main targets for the Shinephi team appear to be the $600 billion semiconductor and materials science industries, with CEO Terborg saying:
“Our goal is to bring the precision and sensitivity of cutting-edge photonic instrumentation into real-world measurement environments. This investment will allow us to optimize our technology and move toward more compact, robust, and scalable systems.”
Pruneri has said previously that the technology will allow semiconductor foundries, including producers of photonic integrated circuits, to characterize chips and wafers with unprecedented precision and speed.
Compact solution
According to the startup’s web site the technology is based on a patented common-path differential interferometer, and can be built with consumer electronic components.
“Enhanced by our proprietary software algorithms, Shinephi enables ultra-sensitive imaging of micro and nanostructures in transparent electronics and optical elements, as well as live cells,” states the firm.
“Shinephi excels with an exceptional stability against environmental changes, without the need of special illumination or vibration control, offering a compact and highly compatible solution tailored to meet the requirements of most sensitive imaging applications.
“With a similar format to a standard scientific camera, our imagers integrate easily at any point in the production line. They transform your classical imaging systems into high-performance metrology tools, with a depth sensitivity capable of detecting sub-nanometric optical path differences (OPD).
“With a fast acquisition rate of up to 50 frames per second, they overcome the drawbacks of current nano-characterization tools, providing real-time quantitative data in the form of a cost-effective solution.”
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