What Lighttrans does

LightTrans International GmbH, founded in 1999 and headquartered in Jena, Germany, develops VirtualLab Fusion, a commercial physical-optics simulation and optical design platform sold as enterprise software. The company serves optical engineers, photonics researchers, AR/VR product developers, and academic institutions worldwide, with named customers spanning semiconductor lithography (ASML), consumer electronics (Apple), photonics/lidar (Novanta), laser processing (Raylase), and astrophysics research (INAF Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri).

The core platform is built on a proprietary field-based propagation engine that treats electromagnetic fields as a universal modeling language, combining multiple rigorous solvers — FMM/RCWA, Local Plane Interface Approximation, Local Linear Grating Approximation, Layer Matrix, and Fresnel Matrix — under a non-sequential architecture. This enables multiscale simulation from nanostructures (metalenses, gratings, metasurfaces) to macroscopic lens systems in a single integrated environment. VirtualLab Fusion 2026.1 introduced the Optical Digital Twin Hub, a central gateway for interoperable Optical Digital Twins of sources, components, and detectors, together with twin SDKs enabling expert users to author proprietary twins. The platform is delivered as a base product with seven optional add-on packages covering gratings, diffractive optics, flat lenses, AR/VR/XR, light shaping, distributed computing, and optimization.

Revenue is generated through one-time software licenses for the configurable VirtualLab Fusion package plus annual maintenance, updates, and technical support subscriptions. Go-to-market is predominantly direct enterprise sales with contact-based quoting, supplemented by a downloadable free trial for self-serve evaluation and a regional distributor network for international reach. The company maintains a content-led demand generation engine — a 458+ resource documentation ecosystem, weekly newsletter, technical webinars, and presence at industry events including SPIE — and has received EU/ESF public innovation funding support. The platform won the 2026 SPIE Prism Award in the XR Technology category, signaling external validation of its AR/VR lightguide solution positioning.

Name

Lighttrans

Legal name

LightTrans International GmbH

Website

https://lighttrans.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1999

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

LightTrans International GmbH develops VirtualLab Fusion, a field-based physical optics simulation platform used by optical engineers, photonics researchers, and AR/VR developers to design and analyze multiscale optical systems. The Jena-based firm sells enterprise software licenses, subscriptions, and add-on packages globally.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Optical Engineering Simulation Software

NAICS

Computer Systems Design and Related Services (54151)

SIC

Services-Computer Programming Services (7371), Services-Computer Integrated Systems Design (7373)

akta.pro primary industry

XR/AR/VR/MR Development Frameworks & Toolchains (MPAFAFAF)

Keywords

• Optical simulation software
• Physical optics design
• Diffractive optics analysis
• AR VR lightguide design
• Metasurface modeling tools

Headquarters

HQ city

Jena

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Software Licenses (VirtualLab Fusion): VirtualLab Fusion optical design software sold as configurable packages including base software plus optional add-on packages such as Grating Package, Diffractive Optics Package, Flat Lens Package, AR|VR|XR Package, Light Shaping Package, Distributed Computing Package, and Optimization Package.
2. Software Subscriptions and Support: Annual software maintenance, updates, and technical support services bundled with license renewals.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Lighttrans develops and sells VirtualLab Fusion, a physical-optics simulation and optical design software platform built on a Field Tracing Engine that uses electromagnetic fields as a universal protocol. The non-sequential platform simulates multiscale optical systems from nanostructures (metalenses, gratings) to macroscopic lens assemblies, with optional add-on packages for gratings, diffractive optics, flat lenses, AR/VR/XR lightguides, light shaping, distributed computing, and parametric optimization. Revenue is generated from configurable software licenses, annual maintenance and support subscriptions, and accompanying training and technical support services.

Product overview

Lighttrans offers VirtualLab Fusion as a unified optical modeling and design software platform built around field-based propagation technology. The platform is delivered as a core product with seven specialized add-on packages that extend capabilities for specific optical design domains: the Grating Package (FMM/RCWA-based grating analysis), Diffractive Optics Package (DOE design via IFTA), Flat Lens Package (metalenses and diffractive lenses with surrogate models), AR|VR|XR Package (lightguide design for augmented reality), Light Shaping Package (beam homogenization), Distributed Computing Package (parallelized simulation), and Optimization Package (parametric and tolerance optimization). All packages share the same non-sequential field tracing engine and interoperate within a single user interface, allowing multiscale optical system simulation from nanostructures to macroscopic components.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• VirtualLab Fusion Physical-optics simulation and optical design software platform that uses field-based propagation with electromagnetic fields and a non-sequential methodology to simulate multiscale optical systems, including nanostructures, metalenses, gratings, mirrors, and lenses. Built for optical engineers and researchers in photonics, AR/VR, semiconductor, laser, and academic settings.
• Grating Package Add-on package for analyzing and designing 1D/2D periodic gratings, volume holographic structures, and metasurfaces, using the Fourier Modal Method (FMM/RCWA) solver within VirtualLab Fusion. Targeted at optical engineers working on diffractive gratings and metasurface-based components.
• Diffractive Optics Package Add-on package for the design and analysis of diffractive optical elements (DOEs) such as beam splitters, diffusers, and beam shapers, including IFTA design capabilities inside VirtualLab Fusion.
• Flat Lens Package Add-on package for designing and simulating flat optics including Fresnel lenses, diffractive lenses, and metalenses, offering surrogate model training and GDSII export capabilities for VirtualLab Fusion users.
• AR | VR | XR Package Add-on package for augmented, virtual, and mixed reality optical design, providing Diffractive Lightguide solutions for waveguide-based AR/VR/XR systems with multiscale and non-sequential modeling inside VirtualLab Fusion.
• Light Shaping Package Add-on package for beam shaping applications including refractive and diffractive beam shapers, prism cell arrays, and light homogenization for divergent and broadband sources within VirtualLab Fusion.
• Distributed Computing Package Add-on package that enables distributed computing across networked machines or cloud resources to accelerate VirtualLab Fusion simulations through parallelization.
• Optimization Package Add-on package providing parametric optimization tools for VirtualLab Fusion, including local optimization algorithms (downhill simplex, Powell, Levenberg-Marquardt), global optimization (differential evolution, simulated annealing), and tolerance analysis capabilities.

Named customers7 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

Feature8 records

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Zemax (Ansys): Zemax OpticStudio is the dominant optical design software for ray tracing and conventional lens design, now part of Ansys. Lighttrans even imports Zemax beam files, confirming direct overlap in the optical engineering customer base, though Zemax focuses on sequential ray tracing while Lighttrans specializes in physical-optics field tracing.
• Synopsys Photonic Solutions (RSoft, Code V): Synopsys offers photonic and optical design tools (RSoft for rigorous electromagnetic simulation of photonic devices, Code V for optical system design). Comparable because both serve the same photonics and optical system designers with rigorous electromagnetic and physical-optics simulation capabilities.
• COMSOL: COMSOL Multiphysics includes wave optics and electromagnetics modules for simulating physical optics phenomena. Comparable as a multiphysics simulation platform with optical simulation modules targeting photonics researchers and engineers, often overlapping with Lighttrans's customer base in academic and industrial R&D.
• Ansys Lumerical: Lumerical provides FDTD and rigorous coupled-wave analysis (RCWA) tools for photonic device simulation, now part of Ansys. Comparable because Lumerical's FDTD solutions solve similar electromagnetic simulation problems for nanostructures, gratings, and photonic devices that Lighttrans addresses with FMM/RCWA in the Grating Package.
• Photon Design: Photon Design offers FIMMWAVE, PICWave, and other photonic simulation tools for waveguides, gratings, and photonic integrated circuits. Comparable as a specialist photonic simulation vendor targeting similar academic and industrial photonics researchers with rigorous electromagnetic solvers.
• Lambda Research (TracePro): TracePro is a stray light and illumination analysis tool for optical engineers. Comparable as optical design and analysis software serving the same optical engineering customer base for system-level simulation, though it focuses more on non-sequential ray tracing and illumination analysis than rigorous physical optics.
• Optiwave Systems: Optiwave provides optical communication system and component design software (OptiSystem, OptiGrating, OptiFDTD). Comparable as a specialist vendor offering grating and FDTD simulation tools that overlap with Lighttrans's Grating Package and AR/VR lightguide design offerings.
• Breault Research Organization (ASAP): ASAP is a non-sequential optical analysis tool from Breault Research. Comparable because both ASAP and VirtualLab Fusion use non-sequential modeling approaches for complex optical systems, targeting similar illumination, stray light, and photonic system analysis use cases.

Emerging players

• Tidy3D (Flexcompute): Tidy3D is a cloud-native FDTD electromagnetic simulation platform with growing adoption in photonics and metasurface design. Comparable because it offers fast, scalable electromagnetic simulation relevant to the same AR/VR and metasurface design customers Lighttrans serves, with a more modern cloud-based delivery model.
• WaveOptics (Snap Inc.): WaveOptics designs diffractive waveguides for AR glasses and was acquired by Snap. Comparable as a customer/user of advanced diffractive lightguide design tools serving the same AR/VR optics engineering market that Lighttrans targets with its AR|VR|XR Package.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/LightTrans
• Facebookfacebook.com/LightTransInternational

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

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 Lighttrans