Functionalized surfaces: Fusion Bionic cooperates with Heraeus and takes off internationally

“How do they actually do it?” – Some startups succeed within a very short time in what many young companies dream of. In just a few months, they convince well-known customers, build up a solid network, scale their products and finally take off internationally. One of the companies that have managed to do just that is Fusion Bionic. Only founded in Dresden in 2021, the startup with a focus on functional surfaces already has almost 60 national and international customers in the summer of 2023, including some well-known corporations. We talked to CEO Dr. Tim Kunze about how much work is behind the success and what experience the team is taking away from the cooperation with the German Heraeus Group.

Tim, how did the foundation of Fusion Bionic come about?

Actually, the foundation in 2021 was preceded by many years of development work at the Fraunhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology (IWS) and the Technical University of Dresden. I joined the IWS as a staff member in 2014, joining a team that at that time was already doing very successful research in the field of functional surfaces. Starting in 2017, I became group leader and focused even more on commercializing the developed laser technology with my team. In 2021, our technology was finally ready for the market, which led to the spin-off.

Can you briefly describe what exactly your services and products are and who particularly benefits from them?

We process the surfaces of materials and products with a special laser technology so that their surface structure and thus their properties change. This is an alternative to established coatings and etching processes. Many of the laser textures used are inspired by nature, such as the lotus leaf or the moth’s eye structure. They provide, for example, self-cleaning, anti-icing or protection against bacteria that could otherwise adhere. Our customers come, for example, from the semiconductor industry, the automotive sector and medical technology.

With the Fraunhofer IWS in the background, you probably already had a strong network and a leap of faith with your customers right from the start?

That’s exactly how it was. The Fraunhofer Institute also includes us in its public relations, so we get much more visibility than startups that have to go it alone. That’s an invaluable advantage. In general, Fraunhofer institutes do a lot of research for business. This means that numerous companies look at what is happening there in order to benefit from new developments as early as possible. That’s also how we came across our cooperation partner Heraeus.

Can you tell us more about that?

Heraeus runs its own accelerator program and at the time approached Fraunhofer with the request that startups that had been spun off there might like to apply. We answered this call and in the end, together with 9 other startups, held our own against more than 1600 participating startups. During the Accelerator program, we had the chance to start a pilot project with Heraeus.

What was it all about?

Heraeus specializes in functionalized materials in its “Precious Metals” business unit, and we specialize in functionalized surfaces – so it was a perfect fit. Together, we worked on making components in the field of renewable energies even more efficient and robust.

What challenges did you have to overcome?

The texture that a surface gets from our laser is quite fine and high quality, a single feature is about one hundredth of a hair. Particularly in new application areas, this also means that you sometimes have to accept setbacks with a new material as well as a new surface function until the properties are exactly as you envision them. Together with the team from Heraeus, however, we have been able to overcome such challenges well, so that we will continue to cooperate even after the Accelerator program.

You are also cooperating with the medium-sized company Avantgarde Labs, which we recently introduced at Ambivation.

Exactly, this cooperation is also very valuable for us. Avantgarde Labs helps us to scale. In particular, the managing director Torsten Hartmann is always there to help us with his know-how and has already supported us a lot with his large network in “Silicon Saxony”.

That sounds great. Finally, do you have any recommendations for other entrepreneurs?

Yes! Innovation can often also mean continuing exactly where others have given up. So don’t be discouraged by setbacks. Success means 90 percent failure at first. But it’s worth it to keep going, even in the face of prolonged lean times. Strong partners, like ours, are an important building block and definitely an advantage.

Contact

Web: fusionbionic.com

LinkedIn: Dr. Tim Kunze