HAMBURG - MuRay, the Hamburg-based deep tech company founded by Estonian’s Andi Hektor and Kristjan Põder has raised €7.1 million to bring its technology to industrial customers. The company which is developing Active Muon Imaging has an office in Estonia.
The funding round is made up of a €3.5 million private round led by First Momentum Ventures and co-led by Caelora (subsidiary of Marvel Fusion) and includes Superangel, Mätch VC, Arcas VC, and Tiny VC with follow-on funding from MuRay's first investor, Nordic Science Investments. €3.6 million in non-dilutive public funding, including a grant from the EU's Horizon Europe programme, makes up the rest of the round.
Using a controlled muon beam to produce 3D images of an object's interior MuRay's technology tackles dense materials that X-ray’s can’t penetrate. Muons pass through such materials like metals, ceramics and composites it can produce high resolution in minutes rather than hours. The benefits to using a muon beam is it can identify the material composition and significantly reduces the radiation dose by avoiding X-rays.
"Defects that manufacturers can't see keep parts out of service for longer than they should be. Our technology helps them find those defects and get components back into service faster. This funding will help us continue proving the physics whilst delivering our first service to industrial customers,” said Põder.
That service comes in the form of a mobile system the size of a shipping container, bringing inspection to the component rather than the component to the lab. The same capability can detect nuclear materials such as uranium, which X-rays cannot penetrate. It is also exploring applications in cargo and border security screening and later radioactive waste surveillance and larger structures such as bridge pillars and buildings.
Avoiding a failure to launch
The company works with DESY, one of the world's leading accelerator research centres, and the German Space Agency at DLR, and collaborates with Caelora on laser technology. Metal 3D printing is increasingly used to produce complex, safety-critical parts such as rocket engines and gas turbine components, yet the industry lacks inspection tools suited to dense printed metal.
Together with the German Space Agency at DLR, MuRay will carry out its first real-world assessment of an engine in 2027. A single undetected flaw can cause an explosion on launch, which is not ideal, nor good for the bank account!
The funding will support technology development and MuRay's route to market. The company plans to launch its first imaging service for industrial customers in 2027, pairing DESY's existing electron beam in Hamburg with its own imaging system, followed by its first full-scale system with a laser-driven accelerator in 2029.
"MuRay brings world-class physics from Europe's leading research institutions to one of modern manufacturing's biggest challenges. Metal 3D printing, space and energy are all growing quickly in Europe, and each needs better ways to inspect what it builds. Expertise in both muon physics and laser-plasma acceleration is extremely rare. Andi, Kristjan and the team are one of the few groups in the world to excel at both, which makes them the only team able to turn muon imaging into a practical industrial tool,” said Andreas Fischer, founding partner at First Momentum Ventures.
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