About us
Who we are
Photoneo is a leading provider of robotic vision and intelligence. Based on a patented 3D technology, Photoneo developed the world’s highest-resolution and highest-accuracy 3D camera, thus unlocking the full potential of powerful, reliable, and fast machine learning and also reducing the training and deployment time.
By bringing intelligent robots into the field, Photoneo helps companies mainly in the automotive, logistics, e-commerce, food, and medical industries to improve the performance and efficiency of their manufacturing, fulfillment, and assembly processes.
Ready for the future?
Photoneo is founded by Jan Zizka, Tomas Kovacovsky and Michal Maly, three PhD students at Comenius University specializing in machine vision, physics and AI
Branislav Pulis joins as fourth co-founder to lead the sales organization
Photoneo launches first commercial product, the PhoXi 3D Scanner
Photoneo launches Bin Picking Studio, a versatile robotic software for industrial bin picking applications
Photoneo develops AI platform for intelligent picking and depalletization applications
Photoneo launches MotionCam 3D, the most advanced 3D scanner ever, created using a novel patented CMOS sensor
IPM Group and Alpha Intelligence Capital lead $21M Series B investment round
Leadership
Jan Zizka
Co-founder, CEO Photoneo GroupJan Zizka was born with pliers and battery in his hands. Then he learned math and coding, got his PhD and ended up at MIT playing with cameras, optics and algorithms. When he realized that he didn't need to sleep, he co-founded the 3D vision company Photoneo with 3 priorities in mind: automate, automate, automate. And one more - to have fun!
Tomas Kovacovsky
Co-founder, CTO Photoneo GroupTomas is an expert in the field of Computer Vision and Computational Photography. During and following his university studies, he found his niche in 3D scanning, which has been his passion since. Tomas has co-developed the unique PhoXi 3D Scanner and 3D Camera MotionCam-3D with a patented technology. In 2017 he was included among the 30 brightest young entrepreneurs, innovators and game changers in the Industry segment by Forbes’ 30 UNDER 30 EUROPE.
Michal Maly
Co-founder, Director of AI Photoneo GroupMichal received his PhD in the field of Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, FMPI at Comenius University. in 2013. He is an expert in the construction of rational agents based on reinforcement learning. He also worked in the area of computer security and published an innovative solution for secure distributed computing. His vision is to improve computer understanding of the 3D environment and enhance comprehension of real-world objects.
Branislav Puliš
Co-founder, CRO Photoneo GroupBranislav is responsible for the international sales & business development of Photoneo. Together with his team he managed to create an intricate network of distributors as well as establish direct sales offices in DACH, China and USA. He is a huge fan of innovative technologies and currently he is an advocate of modern automation solutions in logistics.
Werner Müller-Veith
Serves since October 2021 as the CEO of Photoneo Sensors & Automation. A Telecommunications engineer by education, he graduated from Danube University in Krems, Austria as a certified board member. His 25+ years international management experience includes successful assignments in the USA, Switzerland, Germany and Austria. Prior roles included leadership of Business Units and global sales organizations at AMETEK and Fortive, both US Fortune 500 corporations. Werner served on the advisory board of the Austrian Leadership association, WdF. He repeatedly acts as a mentor and is a passionate advocate of value-based leadership. Sustainability, mindfulness, diversity and respect are the basis of his management culture.
On our mission to automate, we provide robots with eyes, not only to see but also to understand.
We are focused on 3D and great picks.
50 M+
robot pick-and-place
operations in bin picking installations
150+
employees
in four countries
1 B+
3D scans taken
by PhoXi®
3D Scanners
Achievements
- Photoneo among 3 top 3D scanning startups impacting the logistics industry
Photoneo has been listed by StartUs Insights among 3 top 3D scanning startups developing superior automation solutions for the logistics sectors, thus conquering other 59 companies.
- Photoneo becomes the best Slovak startup of the year
We won the national round of the Central European Startup Awards! Find out more in this Forbes article (in Slovak).
- Photoneo listed among the top 10 AI startups in Central and Eastern Europe
Photoneo has been listed among the top 10 AI startups in Central and Eastern Europe with the most published funding according to Crunchbase. Check out this article by Nanalyze.
- Photoneo wins the platinum-level VSD 2019 Innovators Award!
Photoneo’s MotionCam-3D has received the Platinum Award in the “Cameras – 3D” Category of The Vision Systems Design 2019 Innovators Awards program, as the only product winning the Platinum Award this year!
- MotionCam-3D among the inVISION Top Innovations 2019
- Vision Award 2018 for high resolution 3D camera
Press release by Vision 2018 organizers (Stuttgart, 6-8 November 2018) on Photoneo winning the Vision Award for its MotionCam-3D.
- Photoneo honored by the Vision Systems Design 2018 Innovators Awards Program
On April 10 2018, Photoneo ® was presented with a bronze-level award in the “Cameras – 3D” Category for its PhoXi ® 3D Scanner product family at the Fourth Annual Vision Systems Design Innovators Awards presentation, held during AIA The Vision Show in Boston, MA
- 50 millennial entrepreneurs driving the future of tech in Europe
- Amazon Robotics Challenge 2017
Two teams using Photoneo’s vision system were among the eight teams from all around the world that made it to finals at the ARC2017. NimbRo team from Germany won the fantastic 2nd place and the team NAIST-Panasonic from Japan the 6th place.
- Forbes’ 30 UNDER 30 EUROPE: INDUSTRY
Our CTO Tomas Kovacovsky among Forbes’ 30 Under 30 in 2017
- Photoneo won the Startup Awards in the category “Science” in 2015
- NEWEUROPE100
Our CEO Jan Zizka among 100 leaders of change in 2015
Photoneo in media
- How singulation and sorting of parcels can benefit from AI-powered robots
Manual singulation and sorting of parcels become a thing of the past. Check out Photoneo take on AI-powered solutions that help companies process huge, unstructured loads of parcels in this article published in The Robot Report.
- Smart bin picking sets automation pace
Automated bin picking has crossed its own limits. Photoneo developed its Bin Picking Studio 1.4 to push the world of automated bin picking to an entirely new level. How does it do it? Find out in the August issue of MVPro, p. 38-39.
- Novel sensors and lasers power 3D imaging cameras and applications
Vision Systems Design elaborates on novel sensors that power 3D imaging cameras and applications, including Photoneo mosaic CMOS image sensor. Read the July/August issue and learn how the sensor works.
- Autonomous mobile robot for transport and delivery of material
Photoneo AMR Phollower is a universal mobile platform with many uses cases. IFR (International Federation of Robotics) reports on how Phollower is deployed in a hospital in Slovakia to help its staff transport drugs and other medical material. Read the article and learn about Phollower and its main features.
- The new revolution in logistics: robotic intelligence and 3D vision
Yet another article on Photoneo depalletization solution published in DC Velocity. Learn about AI-powered depalletization and what advantages it can provide you.
- How AI Depalletization Is Shaking Up Logistics
The growing demand for fast supply-chain processes has reached yet another niche market: a so-called depalletization. What is the difference between the AI-powered depalletization solution by Photoneo and classic depalletization and delayerization solutions? What can you gain by implementing a depalletizer that uses robotic intelligence? Find out in this article published in SupplyChainBrain.
- Photoneo releases Localization SDK 1.3
After the release of the PhoXi Control application version 1.2, Photoneo was busily working on Photoneo Localization SDK 1.3 to bring the benefits of the recent improvements to end users and to Bin Picking Studio 1.4. Check out the June issue of Inspect.
- 3D machine vision helps breed new wheat crop varieties
Deploying 3D machine vision in crop cross breeding programs? Find out more about the UK’s National Physical Laboratory‘s project that uses Photoneo PhoXi 3D Scanners for automated crop scanning and 3D data analysis. Check out the June issue of MVPro, p. 26-27.
- How can depalletization benefit from computer vision, robotics, and machine learning?
What is depalletization and how does Photoneo AI-powered Depalletizer differ from classic depalletization and delayerization solutions? What advantages does it offer and what are the secrets to success? Check out our latest article published in The Robot Report.
- Successful Slovak startup conquers the world
Automa, a Czech magazine on automation technologies, interviews Photoneo’s Branislav Pulis, VP of Sales & Marketing. He talks about Photoneo and what is behind its success (the article is in Czech). Check out the April issue, p. 25 - 26.
- Medical Robots' Role Expands as COVID-19 Outbreak Continues
Tech Briefs mentions Phollower 100 as one of the ways to help fight the coronavirus by safely distributing hospital material in quarantine zones without personal contact.
- Become the ultimate master of bin picking
MVPro announces the release of Bin Picking Studio 1.4.0, summarizing the main new features and upgrades.
- Automation in the CEE region
Emerging Europe discusses the current and future situation in the CEE region in terms of the labour situation and deployement of automation solutions. What is Photoneo’s stance on the topic? Discover in this article.
- Advancements in 3D vision, software bolster bin picking
Adrian Kratky, Director of Robot Vision at Photoneo, will guide you through the basic types of bin picking applications, the most common challenges and the latest advancements in the field. What role does a high-level 3D vision play in a successful bin picking? Find answers to all this and much more in this article published in Vision Spectra, spring 2020 issue.
- Proprietary CMOS sensor enables accurate, fast 3D acquisition of moving objects
Vision Systems Design explains how Photoneo’s proprietary mosaic shutter CMOS image sensor works, in what way it is revolutionary and how it enables the MotionCam-3D to capture objects in motion.
- Machine Vision: 3D sensing provides versatility and precision for industry
Laser Focus World discusses Photoneo’s revolutionary, high-speed 3D image-capture technique, 3D vision products and smart solutions for industrial automation. In what way are they novel and what are the target applications? Find out in the article.
- Photoneo 3D Machine Vision and Robot Intelligence
This High-Tech Trends article explains why Photoneo is the leading solutions provider in the field of 3D machine vision, robot intelligence and smart automation. What challenges do Photoneo solutions solve and what innovations do they offer? Find out in the article.
- Learning to assemble and to generalize from self-supervised disassembly
Learn how Stanford University, Columbia University and Google combine AI with Photoneo’s PhoXi Scanner to teach a robot to assemble objects.
- Autonomous mobile robot = numerous applications
A one-page article on Phollower 100, Photoneo's autonomous mobile platform for transport of materials in factories, hotels, hospitals, warehouses and other large spaces. Learn what it can do in the December 2019/January 2020 issue of MVPro.
- 3D cameras are important engines of the new industrial revolution
Check out this article on the importance of 3D cameras for industrial automation, published in Magyar Elektronika (article is in Hungarian).
- Wheat breeding gains from 3D data / AND / Fulfilling promise of pick and place
Photoneo solutions appeared in two articles of Imaging & Machine Vision Europe, February/March issue. Learn how the PhoXi 3D Scanner is used for scanning wheat in crop breeding (p. 12-14) and about the importance of superior vision for robots working in warehouses (p. 28-30).
- 6 Tech Startups Using Artificial Intelligence To Watch in 2020
Photoneo has been listed by Startuptips among the top 6 startups using AI. Check it out!
- Saber1 Technologies makes it easy to purchase the highest quality industrial imaging equipment
Saber1 Technologies, one of the leading suppliers of top quality industrial imaging equipment, has expanded their product offerings with supplies from Photoneo.
- Photoneo listed among 10 European tech startups to watch in 2020
Startup Tips lists 10 European tech startups to watch in 2020, including Photoneo.
- Understanding the latest in high-speed 3D imaging
James Carroll from Vision Systems Design looks at the latest high-speed 3D sensing technologies and the speeds at which structured light and confocal imaging products available today acquire 3D data. He also talks about Photoneo’s “Parallel Structured Light” technology, the MotionCam-3D and PhoXi 3D Scanners in Part 2. You can find the article also in the November/December 2019 Issue of Vision Systems Design.
- Parallel und strukturiert: Parallel Structured Light technology overruns 3D
The article covers traditional 3D sensing techniques and then moves on to Photoneo's revolutionary Parallel Structured Light technology, explaining where its novelty resides. Check it out in the November 2019 issue of Inspect (in German).
- Photoneo – Providing eyes & intelligence for industrial robots
What is it all about? Photoneo's endeavour, mission and vision wrapped up in this article published at startuptips.com.
- Who will be the most successful company of the next decade?
Forbes listed Photoneo among 10 companies with the greatest potential to become the most successful Slovak company over the upcoming decade (the article is in Slovak).
- Measuring the 3rd dimension
Check out this Imaging and Machine Vision Europe's article by Greg Blackmann who looks at the latest techniques to capture and analyse 3D image data, including Photoneo's "Parallel Structured Light" technology. October/November issue, p. 20.
- Vision Yearbook 2019/2020
What strategies do machine vision firms employ when hiring staff and what is on the horizon in the machine vision for the coming year? Read Photoneo's contributions to the Vision Yearbook 2019/2020.
- Bin Picking System by Photoneo
The article presents a case study describing a bin picking system for the automation of hot forming and laser cutting processes developed by Photoneo. Get more details in the October Issue of Inspect, or in the October/November issue of PhotonicsViews under https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/phvs.201970512.
- Pushing the boundaries of 3D machine vision
Photoneo's "Parallel Structured Light" technology, the method behind MotionCam-3D, nicely summarised in the Supplement of the Automation magazine, September issue, page S9.
- Automated 3D model creation by Photoneo
Fast area 3d surface inspection for 100% quality control. What are the traditional 3D inspection technologies and how does the new Photoneo solution differ from them? Find out in this Inspect article, September 2019 issue.
- Photoneo enters the Chinese market
Photoneo has opened a new office in Shanghai, China, which was accompanied by exhibiting at one of the biggest trade fairs for industrial automation in Shanghai. Find our more in this article in Slovak.
- Release of Bin Picking Studio 1.2.0.
Photoneo has released Bin Picking Studio 1.2.0! Check out the August/September issue of Imagine & Machine Vision Europe.
- Slovaks teach robots to understand their environment
Traditional 3D sensing methods, Photoneo's breakthrough Parallel Structured Light technology, industrial automation and future applications. Find out more in this PC Revue article, July 2019 issue.
- Photoneo 3D scanners filling the gap in Mabema's product portfolio
Check it out in the magazine Oem Automatic!
- AMR Phollower 100 in action
Watch this VaT (Science and Technology) reportage about our Phollower 100 in Slovak.
- VSD 2019 Innovators Awards: Platinum-level honoree
Photoneo’ success featured in the Vision Systems Design magazine. Check out the June 2019 issue, p. 13-14.
- Trajectory Correction application for quality checks of sensitive objects
Check out this article on Photoneo’s taylor-made 3D vision system for quality checks of air conditioners - an automated solution for more effective and economical production. Inspect, April 2019 issue, p. 38.
- Bin Picking Studio - a smart robot-handling software solution for bin picking applications
Branislav Puliš, Director of Sales and Marketing at Photoneo, talked to MVPro about our Bin Picking Studio, a fine-tuned, complete yet simple solution from one supplier. Why is it unique? Find out in Issue 14, p. 38.
- Extending reach of robotics
Photoneo mentioned as one of the leading companies in provision of machine and robot vision technology for bin picking in the Imaging and Machine Vision Europe article on the vision solutions for robot bin picking. Check it out in the April/May 2019 issue.
- Locator - an affordable robot-handling solution
Check out the inVISION article on Locator, our tool for fast picking of non-overlapping, randomly placed objects as well as for assembly and application of glues and sealants, in the March 2019 issue.
- No Motion Blur
Read the article on the highest resolution and highest accuracy 3D Camera for scanning in rapid motion in the Sep. 2018 issue of the inVISION magazine.
- Web based bin picking
Find our software Bin Picking Studio introduced in the June 2018 issue of the inVISION magazine.
- 3D vision helps robot pick small parts from large bins
The April 2018 Issue of the magazine Vision Systems Design includes article elaborating on one of our bin picking use cases, advancing automation of a production line at a hydraulic components manufacturer.
- Slovak Challengers 2017 - Report on Slovakia’s top scale-ups and its growing innovation ecosystem
Report on Slovakia's 15 top scale-ups in 2017 by Neulogy, Slovak Alliance for Innovative Economy – SAPIE and EIT Digital
- Through the eyes of machines
- Photoneo Topping the Industry in Q4
- The Danube Valley: central Europe’s answer to Silicon Valley
- 13 Tech Startups from Slovakia You Need to Know About in 2016
- Top deals seen in Central and Eastern Europe in September
Back in 2015, Photonhttps://www.photoneo.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=1048&action=edit&lang=en#eo raised one of the then largest seed rounds in Central Europe.