What SmarAct GmbH does

SmarAct GmbH is a privately held German precision engineering company headquartered in Oldenburg, Germany, with a wholly-owned US sales subsidiary and commercial contact presence in China. The company designs, manufactures, and sells high-precision positioning, automation, and metrology systems built on proprietary piezoelectric drive, electromagnetic drive, and optical interferometry technologies. Its product portfolio is organized into three business units: Motion (linear, rotation, hexapod-like, goniometer, cryogenic, UHV and non-magnetic stages driven by SMARSLIDE, SMARFLEX, SMARSHIFT, and SMARBOTIC technologies), Metrology (PICOSCALE interferometer, PICOSCALE vibrometer, METIRIO optical encoder, SMARPROBE nanoprober), and Automation (P50 modular microassembly platform, engineering services, contract manufacturing). Hardware is controlled by the MCS2 modular multi-axis controller and orchestrated by the SCoPE software platform with SDKs supporting C/C++, Python, C#, and LabVIEW.

The company generates revenue through direct B2B sales of capital equipment, OEM component sales (notably METIRIO encoders), and engineering/contract manufacturing services. Its customer base spans seven horizontal segments — life sciences and light microscopy, high-energy research facilities such as synchrotrons, materials science and electron microscopy, semiconductor and photonics manufacturing, medical device manufacturing, industrial manufacturing, and OEM integrations — reached primarily through enterprise field sales, the company website, and participation in international trade shows (nanotexnology, Laser Korea, IWP/RIXS). Notable commercial milestones include the February 2026 launch of the NanoPro VT two-photon polymerization platform in partnership with Vienna-based UpNano, and ongoing expansion of the Automation business unit into series production environments.

SmarAct is an organically grown Mittelstand firm with no disclosed external funding rounds, parent company, or public listing, operating with over 300 employees covering the full production process from development and design to mechanical manufacturing and sales. The firm competes in markets where global nanopositioning demand is forecast to reach $7.0–7.7B by 2035-36 at roughly 9% CAGR, and where its primary differentiator is full in-house control of drive, controller, software, and metrology under a single vendor.

Name

SmarAct GmbH

Legal name

SmarAct GmbH

Website

https://smaract.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2005

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

SmarAct GmbH is a privately held German precision engineering company that designs, manufactures, and sells sub-nanometer positioning, automation, and metrology systems based on proprietary piezoelectric and electromagnetic drive technologies, serving research institutions, semiconductor manufacturers, and industrial customers worldwide through direct B2B sales.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Precision Positioning & Nanopositioning Systems

NAICS

Navigational, Measuring, Electromedical, and Control Instruments Manufacturing (3345), Other Measuring and Controlling Device Manufacturing (334519)

SIC

Industrial Instruments For Measurement, Display, And Control (3823), Optical Instruments & Lenses (3827)

akta.pro primary industry

Machine Vision & Optical Sensing (Cameras, 3D vision, LiDAR, illumination) (IMAGAFAB)

akta.pro secondary industry

Microscopy, Imaging & Flow Cytometry Instruments (HLAGAIAE)

Keywords

• Precision positioning systems
• Nanopositioning equipment
• Piezo motion control
• Laser interferometry metrology
• Microassembly automation

Headquarters

HQ city

Berkeley

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Precision Positioning Hardware Sales: Sale of high-precision motion control products including linear stages, rotation stages, positioning systems, hexapod-like systems, micro-grippers, cryogenic and non-magnetic piezo stages
2. Metrology Equipment Sales: Sale of interferometers, vibrometers, optical encoders, and nanoprobers for displacement and vibration measurement
3. Automation Systems: Fully automated microassembly production stations based on P50 platform for industrial manufacturing
4. Control Systems and Software: Sale of MCS2 controllers, motion control software, SDKs, and application software (SCoPE)
5. Engineering Services: Custom engineering services for positioning challenges, process development for microassembly, and contract manufacturing

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

SmarAct designs, manufactures and sells high-precision micro and nano positioning systems, metrology instruments and automation platforms. Its portfolio spans piezo-driven linear, rotation, goniometer, high-load, hexapod-like, cryogenic, non-magnetic and UHV stages, micro-grippers, PICOSCALE interferometers and vibrometers, METIRIO optical encoders, the SMARPROBE nanoprober, the MCS2 multi-axis controller and the P50 microassembly automation platform. Offerings are sold primarily to research institutions, semiconductor and photonics manufacturers, synchrotron facilities and medical-device producers.

Product overview

SmarAct GmbH is a precision positioning, automation, and metrology company organized into three business units: Motion, Metrology, and Automation. The Motion portfolio includes linear/rotation stages, hexapod systems (SMARPOD, TRIPOD), goniometers, opto-mechanics, and micro-grippers driven by proprietary technologies (SMARSLIDE piezo drives, SMARFLEX flexure stages, SMARSHIFT electromagnetic drives, SMARBOTIC multiaxis systems). Specialized environments include cryogenic, non-magnetic, and ultra-high vacuum stages. The Metrology division offers the PICOSCALE Interferometer for displacement/vibration measurements, the METIRIO Optical Encoder for closed-loop positioning, PICOSCALE Vibrometer, and SMARPROBE Nanoprober. Motion control is enabled by the MCS2 modular controller. The Automation unit provides the P50 microassembly platform with modular tooling and software. Software includes SCoPE (visual process modeling with Python scripting), SmarAct Motion Control GUI, and SDKs (C/C++, Python, C#, LabVIEW).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• PICOSCALE: Interferometer product line for contactless high precision displacement measurements
• METIRIO
• SCoPE
• SMARSLIDE
• SMARFLEX
• SMARSHIFT
• SMARBOTIC
• SMARGON
• SMARPROBE
• SmarActMC
• P50
• TRIPOD
• SMARPOD
• MCS2

Products and services

• MCS2 Modular Multi-Axis Controller Modular multi-axis motion controller that supports SmarAct's stick-slip piezo, scanner piezo and electromagnetic drive technologies across stick-slip, scanner and electromagnetic architectures, with configurable communication interfaces and I/O modules.
• SCoPE Application Software SmarAct Control & Process Environment (SCoPE) — a modular and extensible software platform combining visual low-code process modeling with Python scripting for developing, controlling and running automated precision processes.
• SmarAct Motion Control GUI Software Graphical user interface for convenient operation and configuration of SmarAct motion systems, supporting setup, monitoring and management of complex motion sequences.
• Software Development Kits (SDKs) SDKs for integrating SmarAct motion products into customer software, with interfaces for C/C++, Python and C# (via SmarActMC) plus LabVIEW support, extensive documentation and programming examples.
• PICOSCALE Interferometer High-precision interferometer based on Michelson interferometry for contactless displacement measurements with sub-nanometer accuracy, used in precision engineering and synchrotron research.
• PICOSCALE Vibrometer Optical vibrometer that uses interferometric technology to measure vibrations with sub-picometer resolution for vibration analysis applications.
• METIRIO Optical Encoder Highly compact optical encoder for closed-loop nanopositioning, sold both as an OEM component and as a standalone product.
• SMARPROBE Nanoprober Nanoprobing system for electrical characterization at the nanoscale, with options for in-situ EBAC/EBIC current amplification and automated probe landing.
• Linear Stages High-precision linear positioning stages using SmarAct's SMARSLIDE stick-slip piezo drive technology for sub-nanometer motion control.
• Rotation Stages Piezo-driven rotation stages that provide precise angular positioning with sub-nanometer resolution.
• High Load Stages Positioning stages designed for high load capacity while maintaining high-precision motion performance.
• Goniometer Stages Angular positioning stages for precise rotational alignment in precision optical and measurement setups.
• Motorized Opto-Mechanics Motorized opto-mechanical components for precision alignment of optical elements in research and industrial photonics applications.
• Micro-Grippers Micro-scale grippers for handling small components in precision assembly and microassembly automation.
• SMARPOD Hexapod-Like Positioning System SMARPOD hexapod-like 6-degree-of-freedom positioning system with a parallel kinematic architecture for multi-axis precision alignment.
• TRIPOD Hexapod-Like Positioning System TRIPOD hexapod-like 6-degree-of-freedom positioning system built on SMARSLIDE high-precision piezo positioners.
• SMARGON Microrobot SMARGON microrobot designed for precision manipulation and positioning in research and microassembly applications.
• Cryogenic Piezo Stages and Systems Piezo positioning stages and systems designed for cryogenic environments, including closed-loop cryogenic stages, cryogenic linear and rotation stages, miniature cryogenic linear stages, cryogenic tip-tilt mirror mounts and cryogenic positioning systems.
• Non-Magnetic Piezo Stages and Systems Non-magnetic piezo positioning stages for applications where magnetic interference must be avoided, such as certain scientific and quantum experiments.
• Ultra High Vacuum (UHV) Piezo Stages and Systems Piezo positioning systems engineered for ultra-high vacuum environments, suitable for synchrotron, electron microscopy and semiconductor vacuum applications.
• P50 Automation Platform P50 modular microassembly platform that serves as the basis for fully automated production stations, with strict modularity, modular tooling and supporting software for industrial automation.
• Engineering Services for Positioning Challenges Custom engineering services from the Motion business unit to address bespoke positioning and motion-control challenges for enterprise and research customers.
• Automation Project-to-Solution Services Automation consulting and project services (Your Roadmap to Automation) guiding customers from initial concept through to a fully developed automated solution.
• Process Development for Microassembly Challenges Service offering dedicated to developing microassembly processes for customers facing precision assembly challenges, leveraging the P50 platform and modular tooling.
• Contract Manufacturing for Engineering and Series Contract manufacturing service for engineering samples and series production of precision microassembly and automation solutions.
• Automation Service Agreements Service agreements covering maintenance and support for SmarAct automation installations and P50-based production stations.

Quantifiable outcome

• Printing times reduced by factor of 10 while maintaining nanometer-scale resolution in two-photon polymerization
• +2 more outcomes

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature11 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• UpNanocoreTechnology or Integration · 23 February 2026Vienna-based UpNano and Oldenburg-based SmarAct combined their technologies to launch the NanoPro VT platform for high-precision two-photon polymerization additive manufacturing. The platform features adaptive voxel sizing through a lens changer system and SmarAct's five-axis precision motion technology, reducing printing times by up to a factor of 10 while maintaining nanometer-scale resolution.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Thorlabs Inc. Much larger US photonics and optics components and instruments company with a broad nanopositioning catalog. Overlaps with SmarAct's motorized opto-mechanics, piezo stages, and encoders, but Thorlabs is a diversified catalog supplier rather than a specialist.
• Zygo Corporation (AMETEK): US-based precision optical metrology company (now part of AMETEK) with interferometers and surface measurement products. Direct overlap with PICOSCALE interferometer and metrology portfolio, though operating at broader scale and from a larger parent.
• Renishaw plc: UK-headquartered metrology and encoder specialist with significant overlap in optical encoders (competing with METIRIO) and position feedback systems. A larger, more diversified incumbent that competes on the encoder/metrology portion of SmarAct's portfolio.

Emerging players

• New Scale Technologies: US-based miniature piezoelectric positioning specialist focused on embedded and OEM motion modules. Comparable to SmarAct's METIRIO OEM and micro-positioning products, though smaller and more narrowly focused on miniature applications.

Direct peers

• Physik Instrumente (PI): German-headquartered global leader in precision positioning systems and piezo-based nanopositioning. Closest direct competitor across SmarAct's full Motion/Metrology portfolio, with overlapping hexapod, linear stage, and encoder product lines and identical customer base in semi/photonics/research.
• Mad City Labs Inc. US-based nanopositioning specialist focused on piezo-driven stages for microscopy and life sciences. Directly comparable to SmarAct's microscope stage, superresolution kit, and life sciences motion products.
• attocube systems AG: German nanopositioning specialist with strong position in cryogenic, UHV, and low-temperature positioning — directly overlapping SmarAct's cryogenic piezo stages and non-magnetic stages. Now part of WITTENSTEIN Group.
• Symétrie (Hexapod Division of Mersen): French manufacturer of hexapod 6-DOF positioning systems with high-precision variants for synchrotron, optics, and medical applications. Direct competitor to SmarAct's TRIPOD and SMARPOD hexapod-like systems.
• nPoint Inc. US nanopositioning stage manufacturer with closed-loop piezo stages used in microscopy and metrology. Direct competitor in the sub-nanometer linear/rotation stage category that overlaps with SMARSLIDE.
• Aerotech Inc. US-based precision motion and positioning manufacturer with extensive linear stages, rotary stages, and hexapod offerings. Direct peer to SmarAct's SMARSLIDE, TRIPOD, and SMARPOD lines, particularly in semiconductor and photonics OEM integration.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about SmarAct GmbH