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Date Announced: 13 Jun 2023
Altechna, a Lithuanian high-tech company that develops and supplies advanced optical components to the global market, has opened a new modern laboratory, production, and business complex in its home country’s capital, Vilnius.
The company, which is led by venture-capital fund LitCapital, has grown rapidly in recent years. The new premises are equipped with the most advanced technologies to meet growing customer demand and orders. Since 2022 Altechna has invested more than €8 million in cleanrooms and technological equipment and is currently planning further expansion in the US that will include a major acquisition.
According to Altechna CEO Antanas Laurutis, the breakthrough in the US market was primarily driven by changes happening in global supply chains. With the country actively seeking alternative suppliers outside China, Altechna has directed its development strategy specifically towards meeting the needs of US customers. Last year, the company saw its revenue reach a record €16.7 million, 30% higher than in 2021, and estimates that its turnover this year will be €18-20 million.
"These last few years have shown that there's a lot of market opportunity in the US, which no longer wants to be completely dependent on China and is looking for new supply sources," says Laurutis. "To take advantage of this, last year we made the largest investment in our history. In addition, a business development manager with experience in world-leading companies joined our management team. We are also currently negotiating the acquisition of a technology company in the US, and foreseeing more acquisitions in the coming year."
Altechna has doubled its income in the US market in the past few years, and, according to Laurutis, can triple it in 2023. Meanwhile, he predicts that this year's exports to the US will amount to at least 25% of the total revenue.
Altechna is also expanding in Europe, historically its largest market. The company recently hired a new business development manager from Switzerland to strengthen its position in the DACH region of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, and find new growth opportunities on the old continent.
"We have a great team both here and in key foreign markets," says Laurutis. "Our specialists have long proven that they are among the best in the world, and we therefore feel strong and ready to make a jump."
Surgery and quantum computing
Altechna’s main products are optical components. These can be divided into laser optics, polarization optics, crystals, and optomechanical assemblies – comprising optics already integrated into mounts or an assembly of several optical components in mechanics, such as camera lenses. Optics are made of glass, then cut, grounded, and polished, and later coated with dielectric or metal coatings.
Some 95% of Altechna’s products are exported to EU countries, the US, and Asia.
The products are mainly used in optical systems and lasers in fields including surgery, the semiconductor industry, materials processing, metrology, and aerospace. Lithuanian optics can be found in lasers used for eye surgery, the removal of scars, skin formations and kidney stones, and other medical procedures. The products are also used in semiconductor metrology systems, microscopes, satellites, among other things.
"One of the future markets for which we are now preparing is quantum computing and related technological infrastructure," says Laurutis. "We already have first solutions for this application and are actively looking for new ones."
Altechna’s research and development team is currently carrying out work in several directions, with the scientists and engineers experimenting with technologies that could be useful in lithography, as well as in medicine, and for LiDAR systems in the automotive industry. Meanwhile, the company participated in the EU-funded Horizon 2020 project GALACTIC, with Altechna’s coatings used on crystals that power lasers used to analyze climate change from space.
Multimillion-euro investments
Altechna previously operated in two locations in Vilnius, Lithuania. In response to the needs of customers and the company’s rapid growth, the company decided to invest in the installation of a world-class laboratory, technological production facilities, and an office that would enable R&D and administration staff to work together in one place.
During the construction process, the company purchased three new optical coaters and installed about 500 square meters of cleanrooms, with Laurutis saying that these investments have made it possible to significantly increase production capacity, quality, and speed. He estimates that about €4 million has been invested in the coating machines and their auxiliary equipment, perhaps the most expensive being a Bühler Helios magnetron sputtering device. An additional €2.8 million was invested in cleanrooms and office premises.
According to the CEO, the investments will increase coating production capacity by at least three times. In addition, the new equipment enables the company to make higher-quality, more complex products for even the most demanding customers. All this will help Altechna to gain a competitive advantage, as well as enter new markets.
E-mail: info@altechna.com
Web Site: www.altechna.com
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