What Translume does

Translume, Inc. is a privately held precision micromachining company founded in 2001 and headquartered at 655 Phoenix Drive, Suite B in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The company operates with 1–10 employees and specializes in the fabrication of fused silica glass components for scientific research, with two principal product lines: (1) custom and standard microfluidic chips and flow cells used in academic and industrial life-science and analytical-chemistry labs, and (2) micro-structured ion traps (Paul and Penning geometries, including a standard GEN3-250 monolithic blade trap) used by university and government quantum-information research groups.

The company's underlying technical differentiator is a proprietary ultra-low stress process called femtoEtch™, which enables truly three-dimensional micromachining of fused silica glass without microcrack formation. Translume extends this capability into multi-layer thermal bonding of up to eight glass layers, arbitrary channel geometry, subsurface electrical feedthroughs, and monolithic ion-trap architectures that eliminate assembly misalignment. The company holds a pending U.S. patent application (No. 18/732,421) on monolithic three-dimensional ion traps and is ITAR-registered with the U.S. State Department's DDTC, qualifying it for defense- and export-controlled programs. Customers include research groups at UCLA (Campbell Group), Rice University (Pagano Group), Michigan State University (Facility for Rare Isotope Beams), Tohoku University, and the University of Innsbruck, as well as commercial end-users.

Translume makes money primarily through quote-based, project-priced custom fabrication services (non-recurring engineering plus per-unit pricing), augmented by a small catalog of off-the-shelf standard microfluidic chips and flow cells sold direct from stock via phone (734-528-6371) and email. The go-to-market motion is sales-led and direct: customers reach the company through its website contact form, phone, or email, with technical sales conversations occurring before any contract. Marketing channels are limited to the company's website and a technical-support resource library. Beyond a single 2013 National Science Foundation grant ($453,829), no equity funding, M&A, or capital-raise events are disclosed, consistent with a bootstrapped, founder-/owner-operated specialty manufacturing business.

Name

Translume

Legal name

Translume, Inc.

Website

https://translume.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2001

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Translume is a privately held Ann Arbor, Michigan precision micro-fabrication company that uses a proprietary femtoEtch™ process to machine fused silica glass ion traps, microfluidic chips, and flow cells for university research groups and commercial customers worldwide.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Precision Glass Micromachining

NAICS

Glass Product Manufacturing Made of Purchased Glass (327215), Research and Development in Nanotechnology (541713)

SIC

Glass Products, Made Of Purchased Glass (3231), Optical Instruments & Lenses (3827)

akta.pro primary industry

Micro/Nanoscale & Precision 3D Printers (Two-Photon, Micro-SLA) (IMAAAAAI)

Keywords

• Fused silica micromachining
• Microfluidic chip fabrication
• Ion trap manufacturing
• Precision glass machining
• Lab-on-a-chip components

Headquarters

HQ city

Ann Arbor

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Custom Fabrication Services: Custom fabrication of fused silica glass components including microfluidic chips, flow cells, and ion traps. Services range from single prototypes to production runs. Revenue generated through project-based custom fabrication with non-recurring engineering costs for novel designs.
2. Standard Product Sales: Off-the-shelf microfluidic chips (Straight Channel, T-Channel, Cross-Channel, Y-Channel, Mixer) and flow cells. Many items available immediately from stock or on short order. One-time purchase model.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Translume manufactures precision fused silica glass microfluidic chips, flow cells, and micro-structured ion traps using its proprietary femtoEtch ultra-low stress micromachining process. The company sells both standard off-the-shelf products (microfluidic chips, flow cells, GEN3-250 monolithic blade trap, metrology-grade flexures) and custom-fabricated devices with arbitrary 3D channel geometry and multi-layer construction for quantum computing research and academic/industrial microfluidics labs worldwide.

Product overview

Translume is a precision micro-fabrication company specializing in fused silica glass products for quantum research and microfluidics applications. The product portfolio includes: (1) Micro-structured ion traps for quantum studies - both standard GEN3-250 monolithic blade traps and custom ion traps (Paul traps and Penning traps) used in quantum computing and physics research; (2) Microfluidic chips and flow cells - available in standard off-the-shelf designs (Straight, T, Cross, Y-Channel, Mixer) and custom configurations with arbitrary geometry, multi-layer construction (up to 8 layers), and specialized features like spiral channels for particle sorting; (3) Precision glass micromachining services using the proprietary femtoEtch ultra-low stress process for fabricating metrology-grade flexures and other precision components. The company operates on a made-to-order basis, serving customers from single prototypes to production runs, with ITAR registration for defense-related work.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• femtoEtch™: Proprietary ultra-low stress microfabrication process used by Translume for manufacturing glass components without microcrack formation.

Products and services

• Standard Microfluidic Chips

Quantifiable outcome

• 20+ years of experience serving hundreds of extremely satisfied customers
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Facility for Rare Isotope Beams, Michigan State UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch collaboration for fabrication of Penning trap with small bore. Work conducted under direction of Dr. Mark Dugan in collaboration with Dr. Georg Bollen and Dr. Ryan Ringle. Trap core machined from single piece of fused silica glass with 11 electrodes.
• Campbell Group, UCLA and Georgetown UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFabrication of oblate Paul trap designed by Campbell group at UCLA with collaborators at Georgetown University. Trap optimized for generating oblate ellipsoidal effective potential for trapping ions in 2D crystal with triangular lattice symmetry. Published in EPJ Quantum Technology.
• Dr. Mark DugancoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTechnical collaboration with Dr. Mark Dugan for ion trap development including direction of Penning trap and oblate Paul trap fabrication projects.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Dolomite Microfluidics: Designs and manufactures glass (and polymer) microfluidic chips, flow cells, and components. Direct competitor to Translume in glass microfluidic chips for research and life sciences; both serve similar academic and industrial customers with precision-machined glass consumables.
• Micronit Microfluidics: Dutch manufacturer of glass and silicon microfluidic chips, flow cells, and lab-on-chip devices with custom fabrication services. Closely comparable to Translume in custom glass microfluidics, serving diagnostics, life sciences, and analytical instrumentation customers.
• LightFab: German company specializing in selective laser-induced etching (SLE) of glass for 3D microstructuring — technologically analogous to Translume's femtoEtch™. Provides both equipment and custom glass micromachining services, competing directly for precision glass microfluidic and ion trap customers.
• Fluigent: Manufacturer of microfluidic flow control instruments and glass/PDMS chips for life sciences and research labs. Comparable to Translume in serving academic microfluidics customers, though with a stronger focus on flow control instrumentation alongside chips.
• thinXXS Microtechnology: Manufacturer of precision microfluidic chips and flow cells in polymer and glass for diagnostics, life sciences, and analytical applications. Comparable custom fabrication capability and customer overlap with Translume in research-grade glass microfluidics.
• CSEM: Swiss R&D organization operating precision glass and silicon microfabrication foundries serving life sciences, microfluidics, and quantum research customers. Directly comparable to Translume's capability set in fused silica micromachining and custom ion trap / microfluidic device fabrication.
• Syrris: Manufacturer of glass microfluidic chips, flow reactors, and lab automation systems for chemistry and life science research. Comparable product offering to Translume's standard and custom microfluidic chips in research applications.

Emerging players

• Bluefors Oy: Manufacturer of dilution refrigerators and cryogenic systems primarily for superconducting and trapped-ion quantum computing hardware. Adjacent peer — Translume's ion traps are deployed inside cryogenic environments built by vendors like Bluefors, making it a complementary ecosystem participant rather than direct competitor.
• IonQ: Leading commercial trapped-ion quantum computing company that designs and fabricates its own ion trap hardware. Represents both a potential customer (for novel glass-based ion trap architectures) and a long-term competitor if it internalizes precision glass micromachining in-house.
• Quantinuum: Commercial trapped-ion quantum computing company (Honeywell/Cambridge Quantum merger) operating its own ion trap fabrication capability. Comparable quantum end-market exposure to Translume's ion trap research customers, and a potential scaling customer or competitor as the commercial quantum market matures.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

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 Translume