From a PhD project at KTH to the stock market
The semiconductor company Silex Microsystems has now been listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange. The company, valued at around 9 billion kronor, was founded by four PhD students from KTH’s Department of Micro- and Nanosystems and has grown from a research project in the Electrum Lab into a global leader in MEMS technology.
The company’s origins lie in a research project led by Edvard Kälvesten during his PhD studies at KTH. The project focused on intravascular pressure sensors. These are extremely small sensors that measure blood pressure directly inside blood vessels. The sensors are inserted into the body via a thin catheter and provide doctors with highly accurate, real-time pressure readings, for example, in the heart or in large blood vessels. Such information is crucial for making more reliable diagnoses and monitoring how treatments are working in cases of cardiovascular disease.
The technology is based on so-called MEMS components (microelectromechanical systems), in which mechanical structures and electronics are manufactured on a microscopic scale from silicon. It was precisely this combination of small size, high precision and reliability that made the technology particularly suitable for medical applications – and at the same time laid the foundations for an entire company.
Four PhD students – and a KTH environment that made the journey possible
Edvard Kälvesten, Niklas Svedin, Thorbjörn Ebefors, Marianne Henke and Thierry Corman founded Silex. The company is a clear example of how research and education at KTH can lead to long-term societal benefits. Today, Silex is the world’s largest so-called pure-play manufacturer of MEMS components, whose products are used in everything from mobile phones and vehicles to data centres and medical equipment.
The Electrum Laboratory in Kista played a crucial role in Silex’s early development. The lab became the company’s first production environment, enabling it to take the technology from research findings to manufacturable components.
“Thanks to the results of the research carried out by these PhD students, the research could be commercialised, and they were able to set up a company that was initially based in the Electrum Laboratory. Without the Electrum Laboratory, Silex would not exist today,” says Göran Stemme, Professor of Micro- and Nanosystems, who supervised the PhD students who founded Silex.
After more than two decades of growth, Silex is now planning an initial public offering. In connection with this, the company is announcing, among other things, investments of around SEK 0.5 billion in its operations in Järfälla.
The IPO marks a new chapter for Silex – and at the same time serves as a clear example of how ideas born in KTH’s research environments can grow all the way to the global market.
Text: Emelie Smedslund ( emeliesm@kth.se )