What Printoptix GmbH does

Printoptix GmbH is a Stuttgart, Germany-based custom micro-optics manufacturer that uses proprietary 3D printing technology to fabricate complex freeform optical components on multiple substrates, including glass, silicon wafers, optical fiber tips, image sensors, and LEDs. The company's product portfolio comprises four core offerings — Fiber Tip Optics, Micro Optical Components, Optical Arrays, and Micro Objective Lenses (with sizes ranging from sub-100 µm to 5 mm) — supported by three service pillars covering Optical Design, Prototyping, and Series Production. Differentiated technical specifications include alignment precision below 1 µm, surface roughness below 10 nm RMS, and shape errors below diameter/1000 PTV, enabled by an ISO5 clean room and wafer-scale processing capability up to 8 inches. The firm positions over ten years of accumulated process know-how and proprietary freeform-design methodology as a core competency.

Revenue is generated through project-based custom manufacturing services delivered under a sales-led B2B model. Customers can engage Printoptix for discrete process steps (e.g., optical design only, prototyping only) or for full end-to-end delivery from concept to series production. The company does not publicly disclose pricing, instead operating a contact-based quotation system. Target segments are industrial and scientific optics users, including micro-display manufacturers, sensor manufacturers, and fiber-optic system integrators; no named customer logos are disclosed. The legal entity is a privately held German GmbH with approximately 8 employees and no disclosed venture capital or private equity funding; the website displays logos associated with the European Union, the State of Baden-Württemberg, and the Junge Innovatoren program, indicating publicly co-funded development typical of a founder-operated Mittelstand deep-tech venture.

A note on founding date: structured firmographic data lists 2021, while the company's own historical timeline and "10+ years of experience" claim imply a 2013 origin. This discrepancy is most likely explained by a later formal incorporation or restructuring of earlier research activity into the current GmbH entity, but the conflict is not resolved by the available sources.

Name

Printoptix GmbH

Legal name

Printoptix GmbH

Website

https://printoptix.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Printoptix GmbH is a Stuttgart-based manufacturer of custom 3D-printed micro-optical components and systems, serving industrial, scientific, micro-display, and sensor customers with fiber-tip optics, micro lenses, optical arrays, and objectives fabricated on diverse substrates.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Micro-optics manufacturing

NAICS

Glass and Glass Product Manufacturing (32721)

SIC

Optical Instruments & Lenses (3827)

akta.pro primary industry

Polymer 3D Printing Service Bureaus (FDM/FFF, SLA/DLP, SLS/MJF) (IMAAADAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

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

Keywords

• Micro-optics manufacturing
• 3D printed optics
• Custom optical components
• Micro objective lenses
• Fiber tip optics

Headquarters

HQ city

Stuttgart

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Custom Micro-Optics Manufacturing Services: Project-based revenue from providing complete micro-optics solutions including optical design, prototyping, and series production services. Customers can engage for single steps or full process chain.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Printoptix GmbH designs, develops, and fabricates custom 3D-printed micro-optical components and systems on substrates such as glass, silicon wafers, optical fiber tips, image sensors, and LEDs. The company delivers the complete process chain — optical and structural design, prototyping, process optimization, fabrication, and characterization — through to series production in an ISO5 clean room, offering both standalone products (Fiber Tip Optics, Micro Optical Components, Optical Arrays, Micro Objective Lenses) and corresponding engineering services for industrial and scientific customers.

Product overview

Printoptix GmbH offers a comprehensive portfolio of 3D-printed micro-optical products and services. The core product line consists of four main offerings: Fiber Tip Optics (for fiber-coupled systems), Micro Optical Components (custom lenses, prisms, diffractive parts), Optical Arrays (custom arrays with replication options), and Micro Objective Lenses (compact imaging objectives). These products are supported by three service pillars: Optical Design (complex freeform design and simulation), Prototyping (rapid iteration and testing), and Series Production (high-volume manufacturing in clean room). The company leverages 3D printing technology to fabricate micro-optical components on various substrates including glass, silicon wafers, optical fiber tips, image sensors, and LEDs.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Fiber Tip Optics 3D-printed optical components directly fabricated on fiber tips, enabling highly precise fiber optical systems with feature sizes below 1 µm, freeform or diffractive surfaces, and direct alignment to the fiber mode field with sub-micrometer precision. Compatible with common fiber connectors and intended for industrial and scientific fiber-coupled applications.
• Micro Optical Components Custom 3D-printed micro-optical components ranging in size from 20 µm to 5 mm, featuring freeform surfaces with undercuts, surface roughness below 10 nm RMS, and integrated absorbing structures with no alignment errors. Suited for industrial and scientific optical systems requiring miniature, complex optical parts.
• Optical Arrays Custom 3D-printed optical arrays with freeform shapes, high aspect ratios, and fill factors up to 100%. Array lateral dimensions range from under 100 x 100 µm² to 6 inch wafer scale, with element aspect ratios (height to diameter) above 10 and replication options via step-and-repeat, soft stamps, and hard stamps. Targeted at micro-display, coupling optics, and sensor manufacturers.
• Micro Objective Lenses Custom all-aspheric imaging objectives in the smallest possible form factors with perfectly aligned all-freeform lens stacks. Size ranges from 100 µm to 5 mm, field of view from 10° to 160°, with direct integration onto image sensors at sub-micrometer alignment precision. Designed for compact imaging systems in industrial and scientific applications.
• Optical Design Engineering service providing complex multi-surface freeform optical design for 3D-printable optics, enhanced by wave optical simulation, diffractive elements, freeform holograms, optimization algorithms, and tolerancing. Supports industrial and scientific customers developing new micro-optical systems.
• Prototyping Rapid-iteration prototyping service for micro-optics with direct 3D manufacturing that requires no post-processing or tooling, in-house characterization, and PhD-level expert support. Targets customers moving from concept to testable prototypes quickly.
• Series Production Series production of 3D-printed micro-optics in an ISO5 clean room environment with throughput optimizations, wafer-scale fabrication up to 8 inches (200 mm), and sophisticated quality control adapted to customer requirements. Supports scaling from prototype to volume for industrial and scientific customers.

Quantifiable outcome

• Prototype to production in 2 weeks
• +3 more outcomes

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/printoptix
• Instagraminstagram.com/printoptix

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 Printoptix GmbH