Ivan-Lazar Bundalo, PhD

Deep-tech innovation, funding & operations

As CTO of InSpek I co-led raising €6M+, scaled the team to 16, and took sensing technology from the lab toward the market. My edge is at the interface: funding a deep-tech idea, building the team to deliver it, and making the technology clear enough to back, buy or build. Base in photonics, spanning medical, techbio, telecom, quantum and sensing.

See my work  → How I can help
€6M+Startup funding (co-led)
5 → 16Team scaled at InSpek
8Multinational projects led
Based in Paris (France) & Luzern (Switzerland)
Ivan-Lazar Bundalo
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Studied & worked across the European deep-tech ecosystem
Tyndall National Institute CSEM Technical University of Denmark University of Sydney Karlsruhe Institute of Technology imec
Worked with
Medtronic· Cytiva· Hamilton· Thales Alenia Space· Polar· CEA-Leti· CNRS· Fraunhofer institutes· Brüel & Kjær· Ibsen Photonics· Argotech· Cordon· Aixemtec
About

A bit about me.

I work at the intersection of deep tech and business, and I do it through people. Over 16 years I've moved technology from idea to lab, and from lab toward the market. Through PIXAPP I worked to unite and standardise the European photonic-chip ecosystem, and most recently, as CTO of InSpek, a sensing startup, I pushed the technology from prototype to product and brought in the partnerships with multinationals that industrialisation depends on. I started as an optical engineer, but my real contribution is clarity in systems and processes, at the interface:

  • between disciplines
  • between the idea and the market
  • between a customer and a feature

What pulls me is mission and people. I care most about work that helps humanity, which is why health, climate and human-impact missions attract me the most. I'm at my best close to people, aligning a team or helping someone see why a technology matters. I love learning and connecting, both technology and people.

Presenting InSpek at a conference
For investors & founders

How I can help.

Technical Translation

Complex science, made investable.

Investor narratives and commercial messaging that bridge the lab and the market.

Investor narrativePositioningMessaging

Engineering & Operations

From prototype to affordable manufacturable product and industrialised system.

Scaling technical teams and getting deep tech ready to build at volume.

Team scalingIndustrialisationRoadmapSupply chain

Non-Dilutive Funding

Fund the R&D and the mission, keep the cap table.

Writing and managing major innovation grants, from application through reporting.

EIC AcceleratorHorizon EuropeInnosuisse

Technology Due Diligence

Confident funding decisions.

Evaluating deep-tech startups, then supporting founders after the investment lands.

MedtechTech bioPhotonicsQuantum

The network behind the work.

10 years of research and startup work have connected me across the European deep-tech ecosystem. For clients, that network accelerates the engineering tremendously.

Photonic Foundries Packaging Partners Research Institutes Industrial Players
Experience

From the lab bench to the boardroom.

2023 – 2026 · Paris

Chief Technology Officer

InSpek: chip-based multisensors (Raman, pH, O₂, biomass, CO₂) for bioprocess monitoring
Late co-founder, Board Member & Delegated General Director · venture-backed deep-tech startup

Led technology at a venture-backed deep-tech startup; helped grow it from 5 to 16 people across optical microchips, biosensing and mechanics.

  • Co-led fundraising and investor relations; the company raised €6M+ in startup funding, including a €2.5M EIC Accelerator grant. Filed 2 patent applications.
  • Owned the technical roadmap and the optical/mechanical packaging and industrialisation strategy.
  • Built the packaging, integration and industrialisation supply chain.
  • Secured strategic partnerships with some of the world's biggest and leading companies, across bioreactors, optics and sensors.
InSpek logo
InSpek
Watch the InSpek montage · 2:31
2021 – 2023 · Switzerland

Senior R&D Engineer & Grant Manager

CSEM: Swiss research & technology organisation
Innovation funding · multi-project management · telecom, quantum, medical

Managed CSEM's involvement in 10+ national and international projects, secured new work and drafted proposals across telecom, sensing, quantum and medical applications.

  • Coordinated EU, Swiss (Innosuisse) and industrial projects, including photonic-chip platforms for sensing, telecom and quantum, and a long-wave-IR satellite-comms programme.
  • Led MedPhab medical pilot-line projects and co-developed a programmable electro-optical packaging machine.
CSEM
2018 – 2021 · Cork, Ireland

Senior Research Scientist, Photonics Packaging & Integration

Tyndall National Institute
PIXAPP packaging pilot line & H2020 projects

Helped establish the PIXAPP photonic packaging pilot line and led project activities from concept to prototype, across biomedicine, telecom and sensing.

  • Work-package lead on a high-speed optoelectronic transceiver (Datacom demonstrator), managing a 6-partner European consortium; delivered on time and on budget.
  • Designed manufacturing-ready prototypes; mentored early-career researchers and brought in new funding.
Tyndall National Institute
2013 – 2017 · Denmark & Australia

PhD Candidate, Optical-Fibre Sensors

Technical University of Denmark (DTU), with University of Sydney
EU TRIPOD network · Medtronic, Brüel & Kjær, Ibsen Photonics

Developed pressure, humidity and temperature sensors in optical fibres. In Sydney, led an all-plastic, all-optical medical colonoscope from idea to prototype in 5 months.

Technical University of Denmark
University of Sydney
Featured projects

Selected work.

A selection that shows the range across telecom, medical, space, quantum and photonics, from doctoral research to multi-partner European consortia.

Telecom · WP Lead PIXAPP Datacom transceiver demonstrator

Datacom Demonstrator

Work-package lead · high-speed optoelectronic transceiver

Led a European consortium to deliver a highly integrated Datacom transceiver demonstrator in photonic packaging and integration. Delivered on time and on budget.

~€2MProject value
6Partners
Medical · Co-lead PIXAPP biosensor demonstrator

Biosensor Demonstrator

Co-lead · multi-partner photonic biosensing

Co-led a collaborative biosensor demonstrator bringing photonic sensing into a biomedical application, coordinating 4 partners across design, fabrication and integration.

Co-leadTechnical role
4Partners
Health · H2020 CARDIS laser micro-optical bench

CARDIS

Photonic packaging & integration

Contributed photonic packaging and integration on the CARDIS EU project (integrated photonics for cardiovascular diagnostics). Designed, tested and assembled laser micro-optical benches the size of a grain of salt.

Medical · PhD All-plastic fibre-optic sensor assembly

All-plastic microphone, colonoscope & other fibre-based sensors

PhD · DTU with University of Sydney

Developed optical-fibre pressure, humidity and temperature sensors, an all-plastic optical colonoscope, and the world's first all-plastic fibre-optic microphone.

7×Faster fabrication
5 moIdea → prototype
Read the PhD thesis (DTU) →
Medical · MedPhab Photodynamic-therapy photonics module © SpectraCure

PDT Cancer Treatment Device

Medical device design & tolerancing · CSEM

Improved and remodelled a photodynamic-therapy (PDT) device for prostate-cancer treatment, designing and tolerancing the optical medical device.

MedPhab project page →
Space · Direct mandate Thales Alenia Space satellite © Thales Alenia Space

Satellite Optical Module

De-risking study · Thales Alenia Space

De-risking study of a satellite-communication optical module, researching alternatives and de-risking the existing design for a leading space-comms client.

Telecom · H2020 cFlow long-wave communications project

cFlow: Long-Wave Comms

Long-wave communication technologies

Long-wave microwave communication infrastructure and technologies for next-generation connectivity (H2020 cFlow).

Project results & webinars →
Wearable · MedPhab Wearable non-invasive blood-composition monitor © Polar

Wearable Blood Monitor

Non-invasive blood-composition sensing

Wearable, non-invasive blood-composition monitoring, using Zemax macros to extract and compute 6 optical performance parameters.

6Optical parameters
WearableNon-invasive
Selected results

By the numbers.

€6M+Startup funding co-led
EICAccelerator grant (€2.5M)
5 → 16Engineering team scaled
8Multinational projects led
20+Multinational projects worked on
2Patent applications filed
Journey

Where I studied and worked.

A European education and a career that reached Australia: 5 university diplomas across 5 countries, then research and startup roles. Have a look on the map below.

Education (BSc & MSc)
R&D & industrial experience (incl. PhD)
Credentials

Education & languages.

2013–17

PhD, Optical-Fibre Sensors 🇩🇰 🇦🇺

Technical University of Denmark (DTU), with University of Sydney

Sensing in optical fibres; all-plastic optical colonoscope in Sydney.

2010–13

MSc, Optics & Photonics (Erasmus Mundus) 🇩🇪 🇪🇸 🇫🇷

Karlsruhe Institute of Technology · UPC Barcelona · Université d'Aix-Marseille

Triple-degree joint international master across three EU universities.

2007–10

BSc, Electrical Engineering 🇭🇷

University of Zagreb, Croatia
Languages
🇭🇷 🇷🇸Croatian / Serbiannative
🇬🇧EnglishC2
🇫🇷FrenchC1
🇪🇸SpanishC1
🇩🇪GermanB2
🇵🇹PortugueseB1
Get in touch

Let's talk!

For an advisory engagement, a role, or a collaboration, I'd be glad to hear from you.

LinkedIn Google Scholar

I will get back to you as soon as possible.