Spin-off SWISSto12 raises 18.1 million

EPFL spin-off SWISSto12, which manufactures antennas for satellite communications, has raised CHF 18.1 million from investors. The firm will use the fresh injection of capital, announced today, to ramp up marketing of its 3D-printed waveguides and expand its offices in the US and Israel. SWISSto12, an EPFL spin-off that supplies telecommunications components to the satellite and aerospace industries, has today announced the completion of a CHF 18.1 million fundraising round. The company plans to use the money, secured from Swisscanto Invest, Swisscom Ventures and CNB, to scale up the production and marketing of its components, some of which went into orbit several months ago. Metal-coated 3D-printed components Data-transfer needs, driven by TVs, telephones, surveillance, GPS and the internet, are growing non-stop. This requires ever more satellite bandwidth, and thus increasingly high wave frequencies - the microwave threshold was crossed several years ago. Yet the higher the frequency the more difficult it is to control, and this is where the quality and shape of antennas play a crucial role.