iXblue Acquires Kylia and Muquans

Photonics company iXblue has acquired optical components and instruments company Kylia and integrated quantum instruments specialist Muquans. Details of the transactions were not disclosed.

Kylia, located in Pessac, France, and in Paris, was founded in 2003 develops and manufactures optical components and instruments based on ultraprecise assembly technology. Their products are used by industrial manufacturers in the fields of fiber optic telecommunications, metrology, and space.

Kylia manufactures miniature optical components in free space. Courtesy of Kylia.

Muquans was founded in 2011 and specializes in high-performance instrumentation. It was the first company to exploit laser-cooled quantum manipulation techniques on an industrial scale. Among the company’s products are a quantum gravimeter, an atomic clock, frequency transfer systems over fiber, and high-performance laser systems. The company is based in Talence, France.

The acquisitions expand iXblue’s capabilities within the space and quantum markets, and they grant the company presence in the New Aquitane region of France, which iXblue CEO Fabien Napolitano said is “at the heart of a rich ecosystem around lasers and optics.”