Discovering new parameters

2020

• Launched z-Movi^® Cell Avidity Analyzer to the public and made first sales and collaborations with biotech companies (LAVA therapeutics, Glycostem, Leucid Bio) and academia.
• Installed C-Trap^® and m-Trap^® instruments in world-leading institutes in 4 continents: National Institutes of Health (NIH), Emory University, Technical University of Munich (TUM), RIKEN – Center for Brain Science in Japan, the National Centre for Biotechnology (CNB) in Spain, University of Chile and many more.
• Successfully adapted to the pandemic, and still hired 42 new LUMIs and grew to 130 employees.
• Established the first office in Beijing to serve the APR market.
• Launched DSM consumables line and Harbor script-sharing platform to make DSM analysis easier and more reproducible.
• Installed an ML-II (biosafety level 2) lab at the LUMICKS headquarters.

Left: The z-Movi^® Cell Avidity Analyzer

Onward and upward

2019

• LUMICKS grew to over 100 employees, doubling that of the previous year.
• We moved our Amsterdam HQ from Vrije University to a vast 1750-meter-squared complex which we fit with 7 unique meeting rooms, advanced R&D facilities, and a dedicated area for seminars.
• Our grand reopening was inaugurated by Dutch minister van Engelshoven.
• Expanded the C-Trap^® with the Surface Assay Toolkit (SAT): unique assortment of new features to deliver ultra-stable surface arrays at the single-molecule level.
• More sales to key institutions worldwide: Universities of Munich, Tel Aviv, Vermont, Tianjin, Vanderbilt, NIH and Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

Right: Microtubules imaged in real time using the C-Trap^® optical tweezers correlated with widefield and label free microscopy.

Expanding across new markets

2018

• First sales in South America & Australia; new customers in TU Delft, University at Buffalo, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Semmelweis University, Ludwig Maxmillian University and many more.
• LUMICKS grows to 55 people.
• Established the first Center for dynamic single-molecule drug research in partnership with AstraZeneca and the University of Cambridge.
• Entered the immunology market with z-Movi^® for Cell avidity measurements.
• Launched G2 product line & next-gen Bluelake software.
• Developed Surface Assay toolkit for use in cell biology.

Left: The LUMICKS team, end of 2018.

A global presence

2017

• Sales to Imperial College London, Johns Hopkins University, University of Zurich and more.
• First Pharmaceutical Customers.
• 30% revenue from China.
• Opened LUMICKS’ first US Sales office in Boston, Massachusetts.
• Received series A funding.
• The company grew to 38 employees.
• Started investing in scale-up.

Right: Release of the m-Trap^®

Key accounts and broadening technologies

2016

• Sales to Rockefeller University, AMOLF, ShanghaiTech University, University of Göttingen.
• First Nature publication with data captured using C-Trap^®.
• Organic growth.
• Developed Acoustic Force Spectroscopy technology.
• First C-Trap^® installations in peer-reviewed journals.
• LUMICKS grew to 19 FTEs.
• Break even.

Left: Co-founder & CEO Olivier Heyning accepts the 2016 Young Start-up Award. Picture by Eric Brinkhorst

Breaking through

2015

• First C-Trap^® sales following product introduction.
• BIOCEV Prague & MPI-CBG, the first two C-Trap^® users.
• 12 employees.
• Break-even.

Right: The C-Trap^®

LUMICKS incorporated

2014

• First component sale to Harvard.
• License agreement.
• LUMICKS was founded.

Left: Co-founder Andrea Candelli demonstrating LUMICKS technology to State Secretary Sander Dekker.

The first steps

2013

• First Patent Filed.
• Publication in Nature on CTFM Technology.
• ERC Proof of Concept subsidy granted.