Optotune: From First Top100 Winner to Global Optics Innovator

Celebrating 15 years of the Top100 Swiss Startup Award, we spotlight the pioneers who shaped their industries. Among them is Optotune, the first No. 1 ranked startup in 2011 and today a global supplier of tunable optics. From ETH spin-off to Venture Kick support to a 200-employee industry leader, Optotune exemplifies how Swiss startups can scale globally.

What began as a PhD project by Co-Founder Manuel Aschwanden has grown into a company redefining imaging technology. Optotune’s tunable lenses are now used worldwide, from machine vision to medical devices. In this interview, Aschwanden reflects on the inspiration behind the company, its biggest challenges, and the opportunities that lie ahead.

Manuel Aschwanden, Co-Founder and CEO of Optotune

What first sparked the idea to create adjustable optics? 
When I started my PhD, I had a clear goal: to develop a technology that could grow into a business and address real-world challenges. While exploring artificial muscle technologies and drawing on my background in optics, I realized the potential of deformable optics. My initial work focused on creating a natural-color display using deformable diffraction gratings. But it quickly became clear that launching a display-focused startup would require investments in the hundreds of millions. That’s when I decided to shift toward focus-tunable lenses — a technology with broader applications, a more accessible path to commercialization, and strong market potential.

What was your first prototype or test like? 
Our very first prototype was a bulky, water-filled lens powered by electroactive polymers that required thousands of volts to operate. Within just a few hours, the water had evaporated and the lens stopped working. Despite these obvious limitations, it was an exciting proof of concept — clear evidence that the idea could actually work. At this stage, Venture Kick proved to be instrumental: the funding gave us the opportunity to acquire critical machines needed for producing our liquid lenses and — just as importantly — it allowed us to move fast. That early capital accelerated our go-to-market efforts, which is always essential for a young startup trying to gain traction.

You secured Venture Kick support while founding Optotune, ultimately totaling CHF 130,000. How did this help you at the time?
It was instrumental. The funding let us buy critical machines we needed to produce our liquid lenses, and - just as importantly - it enabled us to move fast. That early capital accelerated our go-to-market which is always essential for a startup.

Which milestones took Optotune from lab innovation to worldwide adoption? 
The process wasn’t easy — it was gradual and required persistence. We initially targeted mobile phone cameras, and within the first year, we were fortunate to secure a licensing partner. That collaboration helped us refine our technology and manufacturing processes and provided resources to develop our industrial business.

"Unlike fast-moving software industries, hardware evolves gradually.
The advantage is stability: our products have long lifecycles,
and once customers adopt them, they rarely switch."

Two years later, we launched our first product and gained the trust of major industry players like Zeiss and Cognex. They co-financed the customization of our technology for their markets, which helped us expand applications and diversify our product lines. From there, we steadily grew, adding new customers and applications year after year. 

Today, we serve global leaders in machine vision, microscopy, medical technology, laser processing, and consumer applications. Our portfolio includes focus-tunable lenses, pixel shifters, tunable prisms, 2D mirrors, and speckle reducers. By listening to customer feedback and complementing our products with controllers and software, we’ve been able to consistently enter new markets.

"Building the infrastructure for sustainable growth
was just as important as innovation itself — from setting up
global sales to opening our own factory in Slovakia."
 

Building the infrastructure for sustainable growth has been just as important. Establishing an international sales network — including distributors and offices in the United States and Asia — helped us scale globally. Opening our factory in Slovakia was crucial to ensuring long-term cost competitiveness. 

What has been the hardest challenge in manufacturing tunable optics at scale? 
Particles — contamination control has been one of our biggest challenges. Achieving nanometer-level precision in material thickness and shape was equally difficult. Unlike conventional optics, there was no machine for producing focus-tunable lenses, so we had to design and build several production systems from scratch. While it was daunting at first, it eventually became a major advantage, creating a high barrier for anyone trying to enter this market

How has Optotune changed the way imaging technology works? 
Traditional optical systems focus by physically moving lenses. With our focus-tunable lenses, we achieve the same result by changing the shape of the lens — similar to how the human eye adjusts focus. This approach allows faster, more compact, and more reliable focusing solutions across a wide range of applications. 

What’s next for tunable optics? 
The photonics industry is growing rapidly and already touches many aspects of daily life. Tunable optics plays a key role in established markets like barcode scanning, ophthalmic equipment, and laser projection. Looking forward, emerging fields such as AI-driven preventive medicine, augmented and virtual reality, and free-space optical communication can benefit greatly from our components. The future of photonics is bright and increasingly dynamic, and tunable optics will continue to be at the center of this development. 

Which early design still defines Optotune products today? 
We still produce our very first focus-tunable lens, launched 15 years ago, even though many improved models have followed. Unlike fast-moving software industries, hardware evolves gradually. The advantage is stability: our products have long lifecycles, and once customers adopt them, they rarely switch. 

First Top100 magazine in 2011 featuring the inaugural winner, Optotune, on the cover