Karsten Verhaegen

TLDR

Karsten Verhaegen is co-founder and CEO of Sentea, a Ghent-based spinoff of UGent and imec commercialising silicon photonics-based fiber optic sensing solutions for structural health monitoring and industrial control.

Overview

Karsten previously served as COO of Caliopa, another Ghent-imec silicon photonics spinoff that was acquired by Huawei in 2013. He co-founded Sentea in 2018 to commercialise over a decade of research from the Photonics Research Group of Ghent University and imec.

Sentea's sensing systems continuously monitor engineering structures, including bridges, tunnels, and industrial installations, for signs of damage that could lead to failure. The company raised an initial EUR 1.6 million from Fidimec, Finindus, PMV, and QBIC II, and followed with a EUR 2.3 million round to support growth.