“Entrepreneurs to Watch” 2025 Q&As
- 20 June: Lia Li, Zero Point Motion
- 27 June: Warren McKenzie, HB11 Energy
- 03 July: Julia Somerdin, Labby
- 11 July: Kenneth Richard Geipel, Robotto
- 18 July: Nicolas Volet, UV Medico
- 22 July: Josiane P. Lafleur, Invisible-Light Labs
- 25 July: Karolina Orłowska, Gekko Photonics
- 1 August: Andri Mahendra, Nicslab
- 8 August: Kaylee Hakkel, MantiSpectra
- 15 August: Robert Bedington, SpeQtral
In its July/August 2025 issue, Optics & Photonics News proudly presents the latest installment of its biennial “Entrepreneurs to Watch” feature, in which we profile 10 entrepreneurs and the optics and photonics enterprises they're building.
During July and August 2025, we'll be periodically posting edited versions of our interviews with this interesting group of visionaries—whose ideas range from laser fusion to AI-enabled drones, from portable spectrometers to UV disinfection, from inertial sensors to raw-milk testing.
Conversations
Andri Mahendra
Nicslab cofounder and CEO Andri Mahendra discusses his journey to entrepreneurship and developing advanced driver and monitoring systems for integrated photonics. [01 August 2025]
Conversations
Karolina Orłowska
Karolina Orłowska, cofounder and CEO of Gekko Photonics, discusses developing a Raman-based platform that merges advanced optical instrumentation with smart algorithms. [25 July 2025]
Conversations
Josiane P. Lafleur
Cofounder and CEO of Invisible-Light Labs Josiane Lafleur discusses the company's nanomechanical infrared sensing technology. [22 July 2025]
Conversations
Nicolas Volet
UV Medico cofounder and CTO Nicolas Volet discusses his company's far-UVC light-emitting devices to prevent the spread of viruses and bacteria. [18 July 2025]
Conversations
Kenneth Richard Geipel
Cofounder and CCO of Robotto Kenneth Richard Geipel talks about using autonomous drones to detect and track wildfires, wildlife and more. [11 July 2025]
Conversations
Julia Somerdin
Cofounder and CEO of Labby Julia Somerdin discusses using optical-based sensing technology to bring real-time raw-milk testing to the farm. [03 July 2025]
Conversations
Warren McKenzie
HB11 Energy cofounder and managing director Warren McKenzie discusses his company's approach to laser fusion, and his hopes for the future of fusion energy. [27 June 2025]
Conversations
Lia Li
The founder and CEO of Zero Point Motion discusses leveraging photonics to push the boundaries of inertial sensing. [20 June 2025]
