Swiss engineering and technology firm NovoViz has developed a single-photon avalanche diode (SPAD) edge imaging sensor, which significantly reduces output power consumption | Top 100 Swiss Startup Award

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NovoViz, a Swiss engineering and technology company founded in 2024, is dedicated to developing single-photon avalanche diode (SPAD) edge imaging sensors. These sensors can detect individual light particles and process part of the data directly on an embedded chip, reducing the complexity of subsequent transmission, storage, and system integration.

NovoViz is a spin-off company of the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), co-founded by Andrada Muntean, Andrei Ardelean, and others. Andrada Muntean, the company's CEO, holds a PhD in Microelectronics from EPFL and has pursued academic studies and postdoctoral research at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and EPFL respectively. Andrei Ardelean, the Chief Technology Officer, also holds a PhD in Microelectronics from EPFL, and has conducted postdoctoral research in advanced sensing and detection technologies at EPFL's AQUA Lab and FORVIA HELLA.

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Conventional CMOS image sensors need to accumulate sufficient photons over a certain exposure time. As a result, in low-light scenarios such as nighttime environments, short-exposure conditions, high-speed motion, long-distance reflection, and faint fluorescence, they are prone to issues like overly dark images, increased noise, loss of details, and motion blur, making it difficult to stably capture valid image information. SPAD single-photon sensors can detect extremely weak light signals and even respond to individual photons, and have long been renowned for their exceptional sensitivity and speed. However, their high cost and complex structure have limited their application primarily to scientific research laboratories and sophisticated experimental equipment, making it challenging to popularize them in large-scale commercial scenarios such as robotics, machine vision, automotive, and medical fields.

Image source: VentureLab

NovoViz has developed a single-photon avalanche diode (SPAD) edge imaging sensor that can detect individual light particles and process part of the data directly on an embedded chip, thereby reducing data volume and system complexity. This makes SPAD technology more compact, lower-cost, and easier to integrate for commercial use.

A SPAD is an avalanche photodiode operating in Geiger mode, which is extremely sensitive to light. Theoretically, a single photon can trigger a recognizable electrical signal, making it more suitable than ordinary CMOS image sensors for low-light imaging, high-speed motion capture, long-distance ranging, and nanosecond-level time measurement. NovoViz's sensor combines the single-photon resolution of SPAD with an asynchronous data processing method similar to that of event cameras. Its on-chip processing capability boosts the equivalent frame rate to 100 million frames per second, while drastically reducing output data bandwidth and power consumption. Currently, the company has cut the cost of SPAD systems by 95%.

Leveraging this core technology, NovoViz has developed products including cameras, sensor modules, and chips, which are mainly applied in fields such as quantum imaging, machine vision, autonomous driving, deep space exploration, and depth sensing in low-light environments. The company also provides custom SPAD sensor design services.

In terms of cameras, NovoViz's asynchronous photon-driven camera features a compact body measuring only 3cm×3cm×3cm, equipped with a 64×48 pixel SPAD array and can be directly connected to external devices via a USB 3.0 interface. This camera delivers 10-nanosecond time resolution and event-driven output capability, achieving a maximum single-photon imaging speed equivalent to 100 million frames per second. The integrated asynchronous photon-driven sensor chip timestamps each photon detection event and only outputs the actual photon events that occur, effectively reducing data output while maintaining single-photon sensitivity and high-speed response performance.

For sensor modules, NovoViz offers a wide range of SPAD sensor development modules, covering types such as photon number resolution, dual-pixel correlation measurement, photon burst detection, and compact linear array detection, which can be used in scenarios including single-photon counting, timestamp recording, and correlation detection. Among them, the photon number resolution module is suitable for photon statistics, high dynamic range, and low-light imaging; the dual-pixel correlator module can be applied in correlation measurements such as quantum optics and diffuse correlation spectroscopy; the photon burst detection module supports fluorescence lifetime measurement, depth sensing, and low-light imaging; the compact linear array module targets interferometry, spectroscopy, and fiber coupling scenarios.

In addition, NovoViz can provide customized SPAD sensor design and device characterization services based on customers' requirements for optical performance, application scenarios, and manufacturing processes, supporting fields such as autonomous driving, aerospace technology, and biomedical research.

As of March 2026, NovoViz has raised a total of $1.9 million in financing, of which over $1 million was independently raised through grants, convertible loans, and equity investments, to support the R&D and market expansion of its first-generation and second-generation sensor products.

NovoViz was listed in the 2025 TOP 100 Swiss Startups. The TOP 100 Swiss Startups brings together the best "Swiss Made" tech startups and growth-stage innovation enterprises, serving as the most internationally influential benchmark ranking in Switzerland's tech innovation sector. Since 2011, this annual list has selected 100 of the most pioneering and market-promising Swiss innovative enterprises and 25 Swiss growth-stage companies with the strongest unicorn potential across Switzerland, covering fields including life sciences, engineering machinery, robotics, information and communications, low-carbon technology, and food technology. The TOP 100 Swiss Startups and its series of brand events are landmark activities in Switzerland's innovation ecosystem, representing the highest ground of Swiss innovation and the forefront of international investment and financing.

The 2025 Chinese version of TOP 100 Swiss Startups is proudly released by Insight Tech. As the authorized Chinese partner of TOP 100 Swiss Startups, Insight Tech is responsible for the operation and promotion of the ranking in China and assists the listed projects in developing commercial partnerships with China. Insight Tech is a Sino-European (Swiss) industrial innovation cooperation service provider, committed to promoting the localization of Swiss innovations in China and the internationalization of Chinese industries through ecosystem construction and cross-border empowerment.

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