Luna Innovations Acquires Fiber Optic Sensing Specialist Silixa

Luna Innovations has acquired Silixa Ltd., a fellow fiber optics technology company, in a deal worth up to $38 million. The acquisition strengthens Luna’s position in the fiber optic sensing market, adding Silixa's capabilities in distributed acoustic sensing (DAS), distributed temperature sensing (DTS), and distributed strain sensing (DSS) for applications in the energy, natural environments, mining, and defense sectors. Luna will pay $21.5 million in up front cash consideration, and up to $16.5 million in earnouts payable in 2025 upon the achievement of certain 2024 financial performance milestones.

Luna, which acquired LIOS Sensing last year, said that the deal further opens access to emerging end markets such as carbon capture and geotechnical monitoring, while also adding incremental capabilities and geographical reach within key existing end markets such as energy and mining.

The addition of Silixa’s 200+ patents brings Luna’s patent portfolio to nearly 1000. Silixa is expected to achieve approximately $30 million in 2023 revenue, representing ~15% annual growth on a constant currency basis.

The acquisition is partially funded by a simultaneously-announced $50 million investment in Luna from White Hat Capital Partners. In conjunction with the investment, White Hat cofounder and managing partner, David Chanley, joined Luna’s board of directors.

Luna expects to apply the proceeds of the investment across a range of existing initiatives to accelerate growth and increase profitability, including increasing manufacturing capacity, capitalizing on opportunities presented by security and infrastructure, and increasing its investment in innovative technologies.

*This story has been updated.