Spectricity

About Spectricity

Spectricity is a fabless semiconductor company that develops and manufactures miniaturized spectral sensing solutions for high-volume consumer and mobile devices. Founded in 2018 as a spin-off from the Belgian nano-electronics R&D center, imec, the company is headquartered in Mechelen, Belgium, with additional offices in the USA, Taipei, Shanghai, and Malaysia. The foundation of the company was laid by a team of imec research engineers, including founder Jonathan Borremans (CTO), after more than a decade of research and development at imec. They were later joined by semiconductor industry veterans CEO Vincent Mouret (and later Carl Smets as CEO) and Chairman of the Board, Pieter Vorenkamp, to commercialize the technology.

Spectricity’s core business revolves around its patented technology that integrates spectral filters at the pixel level on CMOS image sensors. This allows for the creation of low-cost, chip-sized hyperspectral sensors and imagers that can "see" beyond what the human eye can perceive by capturing data across numerous specific wavelength ranges. The company operates on a fabless business model, designing its solutions and partnering with foundries for high-volume manufacturing. Its primary products are multispectral imaging sensors, like the S1, and camera modules designed for easy integration into smartphones, wearables, and other IoT devices. The company has engaged in collaborations with major players in the mobile industry, including a significant agreement with Qualcomm to develop native reference design support for its sensors for use with Snapdragon mobile platforms.

The technology enables a host of applications by providing highly accurate color and material analysis. Key use cases include improving smartphone camera performance through more precise automatic white balancing for true-to-life color photography, especially in rendering accurate skin tones. This capability extends to e-commerce for verifying the color of products, and into health and wellness for applications like personalized skincare analysis by detecting biomarkers for hydration or melanin levels. Other applications include food analysis, precision agriculture, and enhanced security for facial recognition systems by differentiating real skin from masks. In August 2021, Spectricity announced a €14 million Series B funding round, bringing its total funding at the time to €20 million, to accelerate mass production and expand partnerships.