Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY
Notkestraße 85
22607 Hamburg

Cycle GmbH

The Helmholtz Association is providing support to build up the Cycle GmbH. Cycle GmbH is a spin-off of the Ultrafast Optics and X-rays Group at the Centre for Free-Electron Laser Science CFEL at DESY. The new company supplies innovative products that use ultrafast laser technology for scientific and industrial applications, such as synchronisation units for large facilities with an accuracy within a femtosecond. The company was founded by Damian Barre and Franz X. Kärtner in 2015. They will use the Helmholtz funds to bring a patented ultrashort pulse laser into a final product. The goal of this project is to setup the new company and to expand the range of products to include laser sources. The main business of Cycle GmbH is to build ultrafast laser synchronisation units based on a novel idea for a fibre laser and to produce a high-output beam of excellent quality in a particularly robust way. The laser is extremely long-lived and immune to external disruptions. These properties give it a crucial advantage in industrial applications, leading to significantly lower costs for the customer.
The Helmholtz Enterprise project “HI-PULSE” provides to arrange the series production of the laser. The project is financed with almost 130.000 EUR by the Helmholtz Association “Helmholtz Enterprise” program over one year starting in August 2015. DESY also grants the same sum of money to the project. This funding includes staff and material costs as well as management support for consultancy in the field of business management, finance, marketing and sales. At the end Cycle GmbH will sell the laser commercially and offer it to the scientific community as well as to industry, for example in the field of material processing.
The Helmholtz Enterprise program combined with the assistance and support of the DESY Start-up Office under the leadership of the DESY Technology Transfer Office offers very good conditions for the incubation of a commercial enterprise during the whole start-up phase. To create room for innovative spin-offs DESY will build an Innovation Centre funded by the City of Hamburg. Together with the University and the City of Hamburg DESY will create this new Innovation Centre to support rising company founders especially in the field of high and innovative technologies related to the research campus Bahrenfeld and to offer office and lab space as well as easy access to the research campus.

Contact persons at the DESY campus as well as managing directors of the Cycle GmbH:

Dr. Damian Barre
Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron
Notkestraße 85
22607 Hamburg
Office: 99/O3.121
e-mail: damian.schimpf@desy.de
Phone: +49 40 8998-6374

and

Prof. Dr. Franz X. Kärtner
Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY
Notkestraße 85
22607 Hamburg
Office: 99/O3.97
e-mail: franz.kaertner@desy.de
Phone: +49 40 8998-6350