Rebellion Photonics: TETF Award Aids Breakthrough Technology
A $1 million commitment from the Texas Emerging Technology Fund is helping Rebellion Photonics develop and commercialize new technologies, create innovation-based jobs and make the world a safer place.
A $1 million commitment from the Texas Emerging Technology Fund is helping Rebellion Photonics develop and commercialize new technologies, create innovation-based jobs and make the world more secure, all from an address in Houston.
Rebellion makes what is called the world’s most sensitive chemical imaging video camera for applications as diverse as national defense, biological research, food safety, refinery safety and forensics.
The company was spun off from Rice University to commercialize its hyperspectral video imaging technology, which has uses ranging from U.S. Air Force unmanned aerial vehicles – drones – to gas leak detection. The company received a TETF commercialization award and is eligible to receive up to $1 million.
“Investments like these by the Texas Emerging Technology Fund are key to keeping the Lone Star State competitive, and continue to provide the critical, early stage capital that attracts innovative entrepreneurs to develop the next big idea in Texas,” Gov. Rick Perry said in announcing the TETF investment.
Others are taking notice. R&D Magazine named Rebellion’s ARROW hyperspectral camera, used in biomedical research, as a recipient of a 2012 R&D Award, which recognizes the 100 most technologically significant new products of the past year. That put Rebellion in the company of innovators such as Intel, Leica and NASA.
Support from the TETF and the federal Small Business Innovation Research program has helped position Rebellion for success.
“Robert Kester and I founded Rebellion Photonics around technology he and his colleagues at Rice University created with support from a federal grant for basic bioengineering research,” says CEO Allison Lami Sawyer. “Since then, we have created seven jobs, raised $1.1 million in venture funding, become cash flow positive and created products that truly make the world a safer place.”