KM3NeT

What KM3NeT does

KM3NeT is a European non-profit research infrastructure that operates next-generation deep-sea neutrino telescopes in the Mediterranean Sea. Its two core instruments are ARCA (Astroparticle Research with Cosmics in the Abyss), located off Sicily and optimized for high-energy neutrino astronomy, and ORCA (Oscillation Research with Cosmics in the Abyss), located off Toulon and optimized for neutrino property studies using atmospheric neutrinos. Together, once completed, the telescopes will reach detector volumes between one megaton and several cubic kilometres. The infrastructure uses arrays of Digital Optical Modules — pressure-resistant glass spheres containing photomultiplier tubes that detect faint Cherenkov light produced by charged particles from neutrino interactions in clear deep-sea water. A White Rabbit timing network, developed in collaboration with CERN, achieves sub-nanosecond synchronization across the array.

The collaboration was reorganized as KM3NeT AISBL, a Belgian-law non-profit legal entity, on 18 June 2025. Founding members are CNRS (France), INFN (Italy), INPP/NCSRD (Greece), University of Valencia (Spain), and NWO-I (Netherlands), with additional full and observer member institutes across Europe (including Würzburg, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, and University of Turku). KM3NeT is funded through European Commission Framework Programmes (notably ASTERICS at €15M, plus ESCAPE, REINFORCE, INFRADEV, and INFRADEV2) and through contributions from national science funding agencies of participating countries. External research access is provided via the ACME Transnational Access Program, evaluated jointly with the Pierre Auger Collaboration, and an educational KM3NeT Masterclass engages high-school students.

KM3NeT serves the high-energy physics and astroparticle research community as its primary user base, with secondary audiences including external scientific researchers using the data, and students reached through outreach. In February 2023 the array detected the 220 PeV ultra-high-energy neutrino event KM3-230213A — reported in Nature in 2025 — which remains the most energetic neutrino ever recorded, exceeding LHC particle energies by more than five orders of magnitude. The organization has no commercial pricing model; access is governed by scientific merit and institutional membership rather than market transactions.

Name

KM3NeT

Legal name

The KM3NeT Collaboration

Website

https://km3net.org

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

KM3NeT is a European non-profit research infrastructure operating deep-sea neutrino telescopes (ARCA and ORCA) in the Mediterranean. It serves the high-energy physics and astroparticle research community across 30+ member institutes, funded by EU framework programmes and national science agencies.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Scientific Research Infrastructure (Neutrino Astronomy)

NAICS

Space Research and Technology (92711), Geophysical Surveying and Mapping Services (54136)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

Satellite Imagery & Remote Sensing Geospatial Platforms (BPAMANAM)

akta.pro secondary industry

Remote Sensing & Earth Observation Analytics (Satellite/UAV/LiDAR, Image Processing) (EUAHAKAD)

Keywords

• Neutrino telescope infrastructure
• Deep-sea astroparticle physics
• Scientific research infrastructure
• Neutrino astronomy facilities
• Underwater Cherenkov detection

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. EU Research Funding: Funded through European Commission Framework Programmes including Horizon 2020, with projects such as ASTERICS (€15 million), ESCAPE, REINFORCE, INFRADEV, and INFRADEV2.
2. National Member Institute Contributions: Funding from national science funding agencies of participating countries (France, Italy, Greece, Netherlands, Spain, Germany, Finland).
3. Transnational Access Program: ACME project enables transnational access on basis of scientific merit to KM3NeT infrastructure for external researchers.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

KM3NeT builds, deploys and operates two next-generation neutrino telescopes — ARCA and ORCA — in the deepest seas of the Mediterranean Sea, using thousands of Digital Optical Modules that detect faint Cherenkov light from charged particles produced by neutrino interactions. The infrastructure provides external scientific access to its data through the ACME transnational access program and supports educational outreach via the KM3NeT Masterclass.

Product overview

KM3NeT is a research infrastructure housing next-generation neutrino telescopes ARCA and ORCA in the deepest seas of the Mediterranean. Once completed, the telescopes will have detector volumes between megaton and several cubic kilometres of clear sea water. The ARCA telescope is dedicated to astroparticle physics, searching for neutrinos from distant astrophysical sources, while the ORCA telescope studies neutrino properties using atmospheric neutrinos. Both telescopes use arrays of thousands of Digital Optical Modules (DOMs) that detect Cherenkov light from charged particles originating from neutrino collisions. The infrastructure also supports Earth and Sea sciences for long-term monitoring of the deep sea environment. External access to KM3NeT data is provided through the ACME transnational access program.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• KM3NeT ARCA Telescope Astroparticle Research with KM3NeT in the Mediterranean (ARCA) is the KM3NeT telescope designed for astronomy, searching for high-energy neutrinos from distant astrophysical sources such as supernovae, gamma-ray bursters and colliding stars; it is operated as part of the KM3NeT research infrastructure for the astroparticle physics community.
• KM3NeT ORCA Telescope Oscillation Research with KM3NeT in the Mediterranean (ORCA) is the KM3NeT telescope dedicated to studying neutrino properties using neutrinos generated in Earth's atmosphere, with 38 detection units deployed as of April 2026; it is operated as part of the KM3NeT research infrastructure for the particle-physics community.
• KM3NeT Digital Optical Modules Digital Optical Modules (DOMs) are pressure-resistant glass spheres containing photomultiplier tubes and readout electronics that detect faint Cherenkov light in deep-sea water; they are the primary light-detection sensors of the ARCA and ORCA neutrino telescopes, sold/delivered as part of the detector rather than independently.
• Transnational Access to KM3NeT Data A service enabling external researchers to apply for and obtain access to KM3NeT neutrino data through the ACME project, with proposals evaluated by a Program Committee comprising members from the KM3NeT and Pierre Auger Collaborations.
• KM3NeT Masterclass An educational program introducing high-school students to particle physics, neutrino astronomy and the KM3NeT scientific mission through hands-on data analysis exercises and international videoconferences across European countries.

Quantifiable outcome

• First ultra-high-energy neutrino detection at 220 PeV - more than 100,000 times the energy of LHC particles
• +2 more outcomes

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

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Würzburg UniversityminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 June 2026German university accepted as full member of the collaboration at the Bratislava meeting in June 2026.
• Pierre Auger CollaborationminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 April 2026Partner collaboration for the ACME transnational access program. Program Committee evaluating external access proposals includes members from both KM3NeT and Pierre Auger Collaborations.
• Ruhr-Universität BochumminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026German university joined as observer institute in January 2026, with research team led by Anna Franckoviak.
• University of TurkuminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026Finnish university joined as observer institute in January 2026, with research team led by Elina Lindfors.
• CNRS (France)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 18 June 2025Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - French national research agency. Founding member of KM3NeT AISBL non-profit legal entity established in Brussels. CNRS coordinates French participation in the neutrino telescope infrastructure.
• INFN (Italy)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 18 June 2025Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare - Italian National Institute for Nuclear Physics. Founding member of KM3NeT AISBL. Coordinates Italian involvement including hosting the KM3NeT-It site (ARCA detector) near Sicily.
• INPP/NCSRD (Greece)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 18 June 2025National Centre for Scientific Research Demokritos / National Hellenic Research Foundation. Founding member of KM3NeT AISBL. Coordinates Greek participation and hosts the KM3NeT-Gr site near Pylos.
• University of Valencia (Spain)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 18 June 2025Host of the Valencia Experimental Group of Astroparticles (VEGA-IFIC). Founding member of KM3NeT AISBL. Organized the Winter 2026 collaboration meeting in Valencia.
• NWO-I (Netherlands)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 18 June 2025Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek - Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research. Founding member of KM3NeT AISBL representing Dutch participation in the collaboration.
• Other ESFRI Facilities (SKA, CTA, E-ELT)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThrough ASTERICS project, KM3NeT collaborated with other Astronomy ESFRI facilities including SKA (Square Kilometre Array), CTA (Cherenkov Telescope Array), and E-ELT (Extremely Large Telescope) for cross-cutting synergies and multi-wavelength/multi-messenger astronomy.
• EOSC (European Open Science Cloud)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerKM3NeT participates in EOSC for federating research data access across European data centres and research infrastructures, enabling open science and data reuse.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Others

• LIGO / Virgo Collaboration: LIGO and Virgo are the gravitational-wave detectors whose detections can be cross-correlated with KM3NeT neutrino events as part of multi-messenger astronomy. They do not compete scientifically but represent the gravitational-wave channel in the same observation paradigm KM3NeT participates in.
• Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO): SKAO is the next-generation radio telescope observatory being built in South Africa and Australia. Like CTAO, it is one of KM3NeT's named ESFRI multi-messenger partners through ASTERICS, providing the radio channel for cross-correlation with neutrino detections.

Direct peers

• Baikal-GVD: Baikal-GVD is a gigaton volume detector under construction in Lake Baikal, Russia. It uses the same underwater Cherenkov-light detection principle as KM3NeT, with clustered optical modules detecting neutrino interactions in fresh water. It is the third large-scale water-Cherenkov neutrino telescope worldwide.
• IceCube Neutrino Observatory: The IceCube Neutrino Observatory at the South Pole is the closest functional equivalent to KM3NeT. Both detect Cherenkov light from neutrino interactions in a transparent natural medium (ice vs. seawater) using arrays of photomultiplier modules, and both compete in high-energy astrophysical neutrino discovery. KM3NeT's Mediterranean location provides a complementary southern-sky view.
• ANTARES: ANTARES was KM3NeT's direct predecessor, the first deep-sea neutrino telescope, operating off Toulon, France from 2008 until 2022. Many KM3NeT member institutes (CNRS/IN2P3, CPPM) participated in ANTARES, and KM3NeT's ORCA detector is sited at the same location.
• Super-Kamiokande: Super-Kamiokande is the Japanese 50-kiloton water-Cherenkov neutrino detector operating since 1996. While it uses a contained water tank rather than natural seawater, the underlying photomultiplier-based Cherenkov detection principle is shared with KM3NeT, and Super-K is the long-standing reference for atmospheric neutrino oscillation measurements that KM3NeT's ORCA aims to advance.
• Pierre Auger Observatory: The Pierre Auger Observatory in Argentina is the world's largest cosmic-ray detector, studying ultra-high-energy cosmic rays via surface and fluorescence detectors. It is KM3NeT's named partner in the ACME transnational access program, with shared program-committee membership for external research proposals.

Emerging players

• Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (CTAO): CTAO is the next-generation ground-based gamma-ray observatory under construction in the Canary Islands and Chile. It is one of KM3NeT's named ESFRI multi-messenger partners through the ASTERICS project, providing the gamma-ray channel for multi-messenger follow-up of neutrino events detected by KM3NeT.
• DUNE (Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment): DUNE is a US-led long-baseline neutrino experiment using liquid-argon time-projection chambers at Fermilab and the Sanford Underground Research Facility. Although the detection technology differs from KM3NeT's water-Cherenkov approach, DUNE competes for similar scientific goals (neutrino mass ordering, CP violation) and high-energy physics funding.
• Hyper-Kamiokande: Hyper-Kamiokande is the next-generation successor to Super-K, under construction in Japan with operation planned from 2027. With roughly 8x Super-K's volume, it will be a major competitor in neutrino oscillation and astrophysical neutrino measurements using the same water-Cherenkov technique.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/Km3netA
• Facebookfacebook.com/KM3NeT

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about KM3NeT