Get to know ACE startup founders & find out what drives them!

The ACE-List: We are proud and excited to introduce our awesome startup founders. The ACE-List is a regular installment where startup teams from the ACE Incubation Program introduce themselves and share a little insight into their startup journey!

Meet the founders!

Company: Photosynthetic
Industry: Additive Manufacturing
Founded in: 2018

Team:
Alexander Kostenko (Founder, PhD Applied Physics)
Tim Wanamarta (Strategic Product Manager, BSc Science Business & Innovation)

In short:

Photosynthetic is a young tech start-up that is working on a new technology that can revolutionize the Additive Manufacturing industry. Using cutting edge technology to give creators more freedom to design, with incredible speed and precision.

How did you come up with your startup idea?

I was working on a very cool postdoctoral project where we did a lot of X-ray scanning of museum objects. During that time, I thought that it must be possible to use mathematical algorithms from X-ray scanning to make a new type of 3D printer work (sort of, but then the process is reversed). My boss and my boss’ boss supported me in patenting the idea until the eventual founding of our company.

What is your company’s unique proposition?

We are going to make a micro-fabrication technology that could be 1000 times faster than the current analogues. This will provide a new prototyping tool for microscopic devices such as, sensors of orientation and acceleration in your mobile phone.

When did you feel like you really nailed something?

After we failed our first big funding proposal and we decided to change the way the technology will be used. After a few months of struggle, we came up with a new idea, and now our product looks so much better than the old one!

How has your academic background benefited you in running a company?

I think it’s a lot of fun to try making an academic idea come out into the world. My academic background teaches me to be systematic and to adopt a “straight-to-the-point” culture, which probably helps a lot in running a company. On top of that, having a high-tech idea for starting a business can provide the founders/company with a huge advantage.

What is the best advice you could give someone who wants to start their own business?

Try to talk to people as much as possible, grow your network. Find a good team and good mentors to help you along the way.

What are your next steps for the coming months/half year?

1) Get funding. I think we worked with theoretical concepts for a while, now we need funding to make them work. 2) We will still be working in the lab as we need to build a few things, this way, people can also see how our technology works. 3) Find our first client.

How can someone who is interested in you or your startup contact you?

Send us, Alex or Tim, an email: hello@photosynthetic.nl