What Sigmaphi does

Sigmaphi is a French specialist manufacturer founded in 1981 and headquartered in Saint-Avé (Vannes), France, that designs and builds custom electromagnets and particle beam transport lines for particle accelerators. The company produces tailor-made magnetic systems used in synchrotrons, proton therapy facilities, industrial accelerators, and fusion reactor projects, with a stated customer base that includes major European research institutions such as Soleil, the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), Diamond Light Source, and the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF). With 101–250 employees, Sigmaphi positions itself as a niche engineering house rather than a volume manufacturer, and organizes its commercial offering around four end-markets: Research, Medical, Industry, and Energy.

The company's business model is project-based and consultative, engaging directly with end-users under enterprise field sales to co-design and deliver custom electromagnetic systems priced on a quote basis per project specification. Its revenue model is essentially one-time project licensing tied to discrete accelerator build or upgrade cycles, with no disclosed recurring software, service, or volume component. Sigmaphi is privately held with no parent company or institutional investor base disclosed beyond a 2013 Bpifrance funding round of approximately $2 million, and is led by Jean Lancelot as Co-Owner and President. Distribution is direct to end-clients with no channel partners identified, and the company maintains a professional website, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Facebook presence primarily for brand visibility and recruitment.

Sigmaphi's competitive positioning rests on 40+ years of accumulated domain expertise, a highly skilled engineering and production workforce, and long-term embedded relationships with tier-1 European scientific facilities. The company competes on engineering precision, customization, and trust-based partnership rather than on price, scale, or platform economics, and its growth trajectory is tied to public-sector R&D budgets, the build-out of proton therapy capacity, and the commercial emergence of fusion energy.

Name

Sigmaphi

Legal name

Sigmaphi

Website

https://sigmaphi.fr

Company type

Private

Founded year

1981

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Sigmaphi is a French specialist manufacturer, founded in 1981, that designs and builds custom electromagnets and particle beam transport lines for particle accelerators. It serves research institutions (Soleil, PSI, Diamond, ESRF), medical proton therapy developers, and fusion energy programs through project-based engineering contracts.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Vannes

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Custom Electromagnet Systems: Design and manufacturing of custom electromagnets for particle accelerators. Revenue is generated through project-based contracts with research institutions, medical facilities, industrial clients, and energy sector organizations requiring specialized magnetic systems.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Sigmaphi is a specialist manufacturer of electromagnets and particle beam transport lines designed for particle accelerators. The company designs, produces, and delivers custom magnetic and beam-line subsystems to scientific research institutes, synchrotron facilities, and industrial or medical accelerator projects.

Product overview

Sigmaphi is a hardware technology company specializing in the design and manufacturing of electromagnets for particle accelerators since 1981. The company operates as a single core product offering—electromagnets and magnetic systems—with their expertise serving four key sectors: Research, Medical, Industry, and Energy. Their electromagnetic solutions enable applications including proton therapy for cancer treatment, fusion reactor development, fundamental matter research, and advanced materials development. The company delivers custom-tailored solutions built by skilled engineering and production teams rather than offering a modular software platform.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Electromagnets for Particle Accelerators Custom-designed electromagnets engineered for particle accelerators, delivered to research laboratories, synchrotrons, and industrial accelerator facilities such as Soleil, PSI, Diamond Light Source, and ESRF.
• Particle Beam Transport Lines Engineered beam transport line subsystems that guide and direct particle beams within accelerator installations, sold as integrated or modular assemblies to research, medical, industrial, and energy-sector clients.

Quantifiable outcome

• Development of new cancer therapies such as proton therapy
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Tesla Engineering Ltd: UK-based specialist in accelerator magnets, beamline components, and precision magnetic assemblies, serving synchrotrons and research facilities globally — directly comparable in scope, scale, and customer mix.
• Cryomagnetics: US supplier of superconducting and cryogenic magnet systems for research accelerators, NMR, and physics labs — overlapping in product type (precision magnets) and research-facility customer base.
• Stangenes Industries: US manufacturer of pulsed magnets, kicker magnets, and precision electromagnets for particle accelerators and pulsed-power applications — direct competitor serving similar accelerator physics customer base.
• Danfysik: Danish manufacturer of electromagnets and power supplies specifically for particle accelerators — the closest direct competitor to Sigmaphi in terms of product category, customer base, and project-based delivery model.

Broad incumbents

• Sumitomo Heavy Industries: Japanese industrial conglomerate that manufactures accelerator magnets and cryogenic systems, serving synchrotrons and proton-therapy programs across Asia — a comparable scope competitor with broader industrial scale.
• Bruker BioSpin: Diversified scientific instrument maker with deep involvement in NMR and accelerator-adjacent magnet systems. Comparable as a buyer of high-field magnet technology and a competitor for research-facility magnet contracts.
• Siemens Healthineers: Through its Varian acquisition, Siemens Healthineers is a major proton-therapy system integrator — a downstream customer / competitor in Sigmaphi's Medical segment that increasingly sources or builds beam-line magnets in-house.
• Bilfinger Noell: German engineering group with a specialized magnet systems division serving particle accelerators and fusion projects (including ITER). A larger, broader incumbent competing for similar magnet contracts from within a wider industrial services portfolio.

Others

• Wendelstein 7-X / IPP: Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics, operator of the Wendelstein 7-X stellarator — represents both an adjacent enabling institution and potential customer/partner in the fusion magnet domain that Sigmaphi serves.

Emerging players

• Mevion Medical Systems: Compact proton-therapy system maker using superconducting magnet technology; intersects with Sigmaphi's Medical segment and represents both a downstream customer and adjacent technology competitor.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCN4wIGyAWdr2ELUmtvvjsKg?cbrd=1
• Facebookfacebook.com/sigmaphi-magnets-and-beam-transport--114277852057841
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/sigmaphi

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 Sigmaphi