New start-up company: Leiden astronomers develop a technology to detect gas leaks
Helping industry to spot dangerous and climate-harming gas leaks faster, cheaper, and more reliably than today’s tools: that's what Leiden University and BigCircle Ventures set out do in a new spin-off company.
The instrumentation group of Leiden Observatory developed the gas detection technology that makes real-time monitoring of gas leaks possible. The researchers have joined forces with BigCircle Ventures to further develop the technology and commercialise it.
Industrial gases - like NO2, ammonia, CO2 and methane - often escape unnoticed from storages and pipes. This doesn’t only create production losses, it also leads to safety and health risks, as well as climate impact. Existing solutions are expensive and difficult to deploy at scale and, moreover, they usually only offer highly local snapshot checks instead of continuous insight.
‘Industry needs simple, reliable ways to detect gas leaks’
The team will develop compact and affordable devices that inspectors can use across industrial sites. This enables gas-specific monitoring, earlier intervention, and fewer surprises for operators and regulators alike.
‘Industry needs simple, reliable ways to detect gas leaks. That will protect workers and cut emissions,’ says Reinier van der Vusse, venture partner at BigCircle Ventures. ‘This technology is designed for the real world: it's easy to deploy, always on, and powerful enough to support industry’s path to net zero.’
'This technology is a powerful reminder that curiosity-driven and applied research are, at their best, inseparable.’
A long track record on instrumentation
Leiden Observatory has a long track record on developing and operating optical instrumentation for telescopes around the world and in space. The novel technology for gas sensing is based on polarisation measurement techniques used for measuring the properties of astronomical objects, including planets like our own Earth: a speciality of the institute since the 1950s. These technical spin-off developments are part of the strategy for societal impact by Leiden Observatory and NOVA (the Netherlands Research School for Astronomy).
From lab to start-up
The optical technique to perform real-time imaging of the absorption of a specific gas was developed and patented by Frans Snik and colleagues. ‘After a proof of principle of our technology for NO2 in a lab environment, we ran out of funding and had to put the development on hold,’ he says. ‘We are very excited about the collaboration with BigCircle Ventures, which really challenged us to move outside of our lab, and establish the very first spin-off company from Leiden Observatory!’
Giuseppe Visimberga, business developer at LURIS, the Knowledge Exchange Office of Leiden University, notes: ‘What makes this technology especially compelling is its origin: astronomy researchers whose ultimate ambition is to detect signs of life on exoplanets. That the same science now serves industrial and sustainability goals here on Earth is more than a good story — it is a powerful reminder that curiosity-driven and applied research are, at their best, inseparable.’
BigCircle Ventures will now recruit a fitting CEO, finalise investment and operational plans, engage industry partners, and establish a venture to bring this technology to market. Interested candidates please check this link.
About BigCircle Ventures - Turning big potential into big impact
The world needs greentech innovations to reach net zero and circularity, but a wealth of research inventions never gets used at scale. BigCircle Ventures brings a unique flow of early-stage innovations to the market that would otherwise stay untouched on a shelf, hidden in a university, research institute, or company lab. By using a long-proven model for discovering, nurturing, and funding, we aim to be the world’s leading greentech venture builder and accelerate the journey toward sustainability.