Nanophoton
Nanophoton is a Japanese manufacturer of high-end laser Raman microscopes, founded in 2003 as an Osaka University spinoff, serving semiconductor, pharmaceutical, battery, and academic research customers globally. Since February 2024 it has operated as a subsidiary of Bruker Corporation.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2003
- HeadquartersYokohama, Japan
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingHardware or Manufacturing
What Nanophoton does
Nanophoton Co., Ltd. (ナノフォトン株式会社) is a Japanese scientific instrument manufacturer founded in February 2003 by Osaka University Professor Satoshi Kawata as a university spinoff. The company designs, manufactures, and sells high-end laser Raman microscopes — including the RAMANtouch, RAMANwalk, RAMANdrive, RAMANview, and TERSsense product lines — based on proprietary line illumination technology that enables simultaneous 400-point spectral detection and is protected by US Patent 7561265. Its systems also incorporate random-scan confocal architectures, UV/Deep-UV capability (RAMANtouch vioLa), sub-micron spatial resolution, and 3D Raman tomography for non-destructive depth profiling, with unit prices ranging from approximately JPY 15 million (RAMANwalk) to JPY 45 million (premium RAMANtouch configurations).
Nanophoton sells primarily to researchers and engineers in academia and industry across seven vertical application areas: semiconductor wafer inspection (SiC, GaN, silicon), pharmaceuticals (formulation analysis, crystallinity), battery and energy storage (in-situ lithium-ion and solid-state analysis via LIBcell products), materials science and polymers, life sciences, food science, and nano-carbon research. Its go-to-market combines direct enterprise sales supported by showrooms in Tokyo and Osaka, domestic Japanese distributors, a wholly-owned Korean subsidiary (Nanophoton Korea), a Taiwan distributor (Keybond), and a 2018 sales partnership with Hitachi High-Technologies. In February 2024, Nanophoton was acquired by Bruker Corporation (NASDAQ: BRKR) and now operates as a subsidiary within Bruker's Optics division, gaining access to a global distribution network while retaining its brand, product portfolio, and founder Satoshi Kawata as CSO and Head of CoE.
The company's revenue model is hardware-led: it sells precision capital equipment (one-time / perpetual license) with pricing handled via quote-based enterprise contracts, supplemented by accessories (sumilé objectives, SK-11 speckle killers, ZPol polarization elements, LensSöck tubes, LIBcell cells), technical service and support, and application-led demonstration services. Annual revenue is not publicly disclosed; the firm employs 11-50 people, has raised approximately $1.47M in a 2016 third-party VC round (Osaka University Venture Capital, SMBC Venture Capital, Senshu Ikeda Capital, Mitsubishi UFJ Capital), and in 2016 set a five-year plan targeting 175% average annual growth in sales and profit.
Nanophoton firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Nanophoton
- Legal name
- Nanophoton Co., Ltd. (ナノフォトン株式会社)
- Website
- https://nanophoton.jp
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2003
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Nanophoton is a Japanese manufacturer of high-end laser Raman microscopes, founded in 2003 as an Osaka University spinoff, serving semiconductor, pharmaceutical, battery, and academic research customers globally. Since February 2024 it has operated as a subsidiary of Bruker Corporation.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Nanophoton industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Scientific Instruments — Raman Microscopy
- NAICS
- Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing (334516), Navigational, Measuring, Electromedical, and Control Instruments Manufacturing (33451)
- SIC
- Laboratory Analytical Instruments (3826), Optical Instruments & Lenses (3827)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Mass Spectrometry & Spectroscopy Instruments (HLAGAIAB)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Microscopy, Imaging & Flow Cytometry Instruments (HLAGAIAE), Material Characterization & Spectroscopy (NMR/FTIR/MS) (HLAGADAK)
Keywords
Where Nanophoton is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Yokohama
- HQ country
- Japan
- HQ region
- Asia
Offices4 records
Markets served
Nanophoton business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Hardware or Manufacturing
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Raman Microscope Hardware Sales: Nanophoton manufactures and sells laser Raman microscopes including RAMANtouch, RAMANwalk, RAMANdrive, RAMANview, and TERSsense. These are high-value precision instruments with prices ranging from approximately 15 million to 45 million yen depending on configuration and specifications.
- Accessories and Consumables: Sale of accessories including objective lenses (sumile), laser speckle killers (SK-11), Z-polarization elements (ZPol), light-blocking tubes (LensSock), and electrochemical cells for battery analysis (LIBcell, LIBcell charge).
- Service and Support: Technical support, maintenance services, and demonstration facilities at Tokyo and Osaka showrooms. The company provides product consultations and application support.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| One time/ perpetual license | Multi-year contract | RAMANtouch - High-performance laser Raman microscope with iPad control |
| One time/ perpetual license | Multi-year contract | RAMANwalk - Entry-level random-scan confocal Raman microscope |
| One time/ perpetual license | Multi-year contract | RAMANdrive - 300mm wafer stage Raman microscope for semiconductors |
| One time/ perpetual license | Multi-year contract | RAMANview - Wide-field Raman scope for large area analysis |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels6 records
Marketing channels6 records
Nanophoton product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Nanophoton designs, manufactures, and sells laser Raman microscopy instruments and accessories for high-speed, high-resolution material analysis. Its product lineup includes the RAMANtouch and RAMANtouch vioLa laser Raman microscopes, the RAMANwalk random-scan confocal Raman microscope, the RAMANdrive 300mm wafer-stage Raman microscope, the RAMANview wide-field Raman scope, the TERSsense tip-enhanced Raman scattering microscope, and complementary accessories (LIBcell, sumilé, SK-11, ZPol, LensSöck). These instruments serve researchers and engineers in semiconductor, pharmaceutical, battery, polymer, life-science, and nanomaterials applications.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- RAMANtouch High-performance laser Raman microscope featuring intuitive wireless operation via iPad and proprietary line illumination for fast, high-resolution Raman imaging. Target users are researchers and engineers in semiconductor, pharmaceutical, battery, and materials science applications. Launch price started from JPY 27.8 million (2012).
- RAMANtouch vioLa Ultraviolet and deep-ultraviolet laser scanning Raman microscope built on the RAMANtouch platform, enabling surface-sensitive measurements and wide-gap semiconductor analysis.
- RAMANwalk Entry-level random-scan confocal Raman microscope using GPU-based random walk scanning and mathematical optimization, delivering 5–10× faster measurements than conventional raster systems at approximately half the price of RAMANtouch.
- RAMANdrive 300mm wafer-stage Raman microscope enabling 3D visualization of stress, crystal polymorphs, and defects in semiconductor materials, with stage navigation that reads coordinates from existing particle/defect inspection equipment.
- TERSsense Tip-enhanced Raman scattering microscope that achieves sub-10nm spatial resolution beyond the diffraction limit of light using nano-sized light at a metal probe tip, enabling super-resolution chemical analysis.
- LIBcell Inert atmosphere Raman measurement cell for lithium-ion battery analysis, enabling non-destructive Raman measurements in controlled environments.
- LIBcell charge Charge/discharge in-situ Raman measurement cell enabling real-time electrochemical Raman analysis during battery operation for lithium-ion and all-solid-state battery research.
- RAMANview Wide-field Raman scope for large area analysis.
- sumilé objective lens Broadband reflective objective lens for Nanophoton Raman microscope systems.
- SK-11 Laser Speckle Killer Laser speckle reduction accessory for improved Raman excitation stability.
- ZPol Z-polarization element Z-polarization optical element for Nanophoton Raman systems.
- LensSöck light-blocking tube Compact, lightweight light-blocking tube (遮光筒) for stray-light suppression in Raman microscopy measurements.
Quantifiable outcome
- Measurement speed improved 5-10x with RAMANwalk random-scan technology
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use Nanophoton
Customer profileNamed customers9 records
Segments7 records
Ideal customer profiles5 records
Nanophoton technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature8 records
Nanophoton partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators5 records
Recent moves9 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Nanophoton competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Bruker Corporation: NASDAQ-listed parent of Nanophoton and a leading scientific instrument maker with its own Raman product line. Comparable as the parent and direct overlap in Raman spectroscopy, with much larger global reach and a broader instrument portfolio.
- Agilent Technologies: Broad analytical instrument supplier with FTIR, Raman, and spectroscopy offerings. Comparable in serving pharma, materials, and semiconductor analytical workflows with a wider instrument suite.
- JEOL Ltd. Japanese scientific instrument maker spanning electron microscopes, NMR, and mass spectrometry. Comparable as a Japan-headquartered scientific instrument peer addressing overlapping semiconductor and materials customers.
- PerkinElmer: Analytical instrument and life sciences company with FTIR and Raman offerings. Competes with Nanophoton in pharma, materials, and food QC use cases as part of a much broader portfolio.
- Thermo Fisher Scientific: Diversified analytical instrument giant offering DXR Raman spectrometers. Overlaps with Nanophoton in pharma QC, materials, and academic markets as part of a much broader instrument portfolio.
- Shimadzu Corporation: Major Japanese analytical instrument company with FTIR, UV-Vis, and spectroscopy products. Adjacent competitor for materials, pharma, and food QC accounts where Raman competes alongside FTIR.
Direct peers
- WITec (Oxford Instruments WITec): Specialist in confocal Raman imaging and correlative microscopy (alpha300 R series). Direct competitor in high-resolution Raman imaging, particularly for 2D materials, life sciences, and pharma research.
- Renishaw plc: Global leader in Raman spectroscopy with inVia confocal Raman microscopes used across semiconductor, pharma, and materials science labs. Direct head-to-head competitor with Nanophoton's RAMANtouch and RAMANwalk in academic and industrial accounts.
- HORIBA Scientific: Major Raman, fluorescence, and spectroscopy instrument maker (LabRAM, XploRA PLUS). Competes directly with Nanophoton across pharma, materials, and life-sciences Raman imaging applications globally.
Regional players
- Hitachi High-Tech: Japanese analytical instrument maker with Raman and electron microscopy offerings. Already a channel partner (since August 2018) and therefore a structurally comparable competitor/partner in the Japan market.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks7 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Nanophoton social profiles
Digital presenceNanophoton financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Nanophoton leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles5 records
Nanophoton subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries1 record
Nanophoton funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds1 record
Investors4 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Nanophoton M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Nanophoton
What does Nanophoton do?
Nanophoton designs, manufactures, and sells laser Raman microscopy instruments and accessories for high-speed, high-resolution material analysis. Its product lineup includes the RAMANtouch and RAMANtouch vioLa laser Raman microscopes, the RAMANwalk random-scan confocal Raman microscope, the RAMANdrive 300mm wafer-stage Raman microscope, the RAMANview wide-field Raman scope, the TERSsense tip-enhanced Raman scattering microscope, and complementary accessories (LIBcell, sumilé, SK-11, ZPol, LensSöck). These instruments serve researchers and engineers in semiconductor, pharmaceutical, battery, polymer, life-science, and nanomaterials applications.
Is Nanophoton a public or private company?
Nanophoton is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently operating.
When was Nanophoton founded?
Nanophoton was founded in 2003. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Nanophoton based?
Nanophoton is headquartered in Yokohama, Japan, in the Asia region.
How does Nanophoton make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Raman Microscope Hardware Sales are the primary driver. The others are accessories and Consumables and service and Support.
Who are Nanophoton's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Bruker Corporation, Agilent Technologies, JEOL Ltd., PerkinElmer, Thermo Fisher Scientific and Shimadzu Corporation. Direct peers are WITec (Oxford Instruments WITec), Renishaw plc and HORIBA Scientific. Hitachi High-Tech is listed as a regional player.
Does Nanophoton have an API?
No public API is recorded for Nanophoton.
What industry is Nanophoton in?
Nanophoton's product category is Scientific Instruments — Raman Microscopy. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HLAGAIAB, Mass Spectrometry & Spectroscopy Instruments, with a secondary code of HLAGAIAE, Microscopy, Imaging & Flow Cytometry Instruments. Its NAICS code is 334516 and its SIC code is 3826.