VESCENT TECHNOLOGIES INC.
Rugged, low-SWaP lasers, optical frequency combs, and control systems for quantum applications
- Sector
- Defense
- Headquarters
- Golden, CO
- Founded
- 2023
- Latest Form D
- $3.4M, Feb 2024
- Total capital
- $58.1M
- Federal grants
- $18.3M
- 28 awards · 2015–2026
- Rank in peer group#19 of 164
- Private capital raised
- $3.6M
- 2 Form D · last Feb 2024
- 32 months since last filing
- Federal contracts
- $36.2M
- 118 awards · Defense, Commerce, NASA
- Rank in Defense#177 of 1442
- Granted patents
- None on recordNo USPTO grants. Applications publish after 18 months.
Capital timeline
Latest events
- Federal contractNASA · SBIR Phase II - Cooling Lasers For Optical Clocks In Space (clocs)$1.3M
- Federal contractNASA · STTR Phase I Clock Lasers With Integrated Photonics (clip)$225K
- Federal grantNASA · Phase II · SBIR Phase II - Cooling Lasers For Optical Clocks In Space (clocs)$1.3M
- Federal grantNASA · Phase I · STTR Phase I Clock Lasers With Integrated Photonics (clip)$225K
- Federal contractCommerce · OU67-FY26-225-NEW Stable Optical Reference Laser$152K
- Federal contractCommerce · OU68-FY26-504-NEW Optical Frequency Combs$621K
- Federal grantDefense · Phase II · Research Develop And Deliver An Ultranarrow Linewidth 1762 Nm Laser That Meets The DOD Requirements As Well As The Compatible Needs Of Commercial Quantum Systems.$2.1M
- Private capital raisedForm D · SEC · 2nd filing$3.4M
- Private capital raisedForm D · SEC · 1st filing$200K
Show 137 earlier federal awards
- Federal contractDefense · Research Develop And Deliver An Ultranarrow Linewidth 1762 Nm Laser That Meets The DOD Requirements As Well As The Compatible Needs Of Commercial Quantum Systems.$2.1M
- Federal contractNASA · STTR Phase I 80NSSC25C0394 Rare Earth Amplifier Chips (reach)$150K
- Federal contractDefense · Purchase And Delivery Of A Precise Wavemeter Frequency Comb Laser.$148K
- Federal contractNASA · SBIR I Cooling Lasers For Optical Clocks In Space (clocs)$150K
- Federal grantDefense · Phase I · Research And Development.$140K
- Federal contractDefense · Research And Development.$140K
- Federal grantNASA · Phase I · STTR Phase I 80NSSC25C0394 Rare Earth Amplifier Chips (reach)$150K
- Federal grantNASA · Phase I · SBIR I Cooling Lasers For Optical Clocks In Space (clocs)$150K
- Federal contractNASA · Phase II SBIR$850K
- Federal grantNASA · Phase II · Phase II SBIR$850K
- Federal grantDefense · Phase II · SBIR Phase II R&d$2.1M
- Federal contractDefense · SBIR Phase II R&d$2.1M
- Federal contractDefense · Optical Frequency Comb System$327K
- Federal grantDefense · Phase II · Research And Development$580K
- Federal contractDefense · Research And Development$1.3M
- Federal contractDefense · Optical Fiber Frequency Comb System With Mll Mode-locked Laser Oscillator$243K
- Federal contractCommerce · Purchase Of A Frequency Comb$280K
- Federal contractNASA · Compact Optical Cavities For Quantum Photonics And Integrated Timing Solutions (cocqpits)$150K
- Federal grantNASA · Phase I · Compact Optical Cavities For Quantum Photonics And Integrated Timing Solutions (cocqpits)$150K
- Federal grantNASA · Phase II · Phase II - Optical Frequency Synthesizer For Quantum Applications$850K
- Federal contractNASA · Phase II - Optical Frequency Synthesizer For Quantum Applications$850K
- Federal contractCommerce · Menhir 1-GHZ Solid-state Mode-locked Laser$84K
- Federal contractDefense · Operational Fiber Frequency Comb$283K
- Federal grantNASA · Phase I · Optical Frequency Synthesizer for Quantum Applications$150K
- Federal contractCommerce · Optical Fiber Frequency Comb Laser (ofcl) System$154K
- Federal grantDefense · Phase I · Miniaturized Ion Clock for Distributed Radar Operation (MIC-DROp)$140K
- Federal grantDefense · Phase II · Proposal Title: Compact Mode-Locked Laser for Optical Signal Processing$798K
- Federal contractDefense · Research And Development$1.1M
- Federal grantNASA · Phase II · Ultra-narrow Linewidth Lasers for Deployed Quantum Timing Applications$750K
- Federal contractDefense · OSD221-006$250K
- Federal grantDefense · Phase II · Multi-Gigahertz Optical Frequency Combs for Remote Sensing Applications$1.2M
- Federal contractCommerce · 3 Laser Pump Diode Boxes.$33K
- Federal contractDefense · Compact Rubidium Optical Clock (croc) EO14042$5.9M
- Federal contractCommerce · Low Noise Infrared Frequency Comb: Low Timing Jitter:< 50 Fs (1 Khz - 10 Mhz) Or Better, Free Running And Less Than 10 Fs (10 Khz - 10 Mhz) Or Better, Free Running Ultra-low Amplitude Noise In Free Running A. Rin Less Than 0.01 % {1HZ- 10 Mhz]$70K
- Federal contractCommerce · Dual Frequency Comb System For The Ctl$315K
- Federal grantDefense · Phase II · Cold Optical Rubidium Atomic Frequency Standard$551K
- Federal contractDefense · Kick-off Briefing Materials & Fwa Cert.$240K
- Federal contractNASA · Ultra-narrow Linewidth Lasers For Deployed Quantum Timing Applications$125K
- Federal grantDefense · Phase I · Visible, Optical Frequency Synthesizer for Quantum Enabling Technologies$50K
- Federal grantDefense · Phase II · Compact, high-performance optical clockwork for quantum timing$1.5M
- Federal contractDefense · Small Business Innovative Research Program, Phase II, Under Topic Number A20-D01, To Procure A Non-personnel Services Contract For Performance Of A Research And Development Effort Entitled, Cold Optical Rubidium Atomic Frequency Standard$1.1M
- Federal contractDefense · Liquid Crystal Waveguide System$20K
- Federal grantDefense · Phase II · Vector Magnetometer based on Dispersive Cavity Readout of Nitrogen Vacancies in Diamond$1.1M
- Federal contractDefense · Research And Development$1.5M
- Federal contractDefense · Pitch Day For Quantum Enabling Technologies Quantum Timing$150K
- Federal grantDefense · Phase I · Multi-Band Laser Source for Atom Interferometry$140K
- Federal contractDefense · Laser System Pr# 56-9110-19$67K
- Federal contractDefense · High Power Laser Head Pr# 56-9720-19$53K
- Federal grantDefense · Phase I · Open Call for Innovative Defense-Related Dual-Purpose Technologies/Solutions with a Clear Air Force Stakeholder Need$50K
- Federal contractCommerce · Laser Control System For Nist Pml$17K
- Federal contractDefense · Research And Development$240K
- Federal contractDefense · Saturated Absorption Spectroscopy Pr# 56-9712-19$13K
- Federal contractCommerce · Two (2) Mode-locked Pulse Lasers For Nist$58K
- Federal contractDefense · High-power Laser Head$31K
- Federal contractDefense · Laser Control And Locking Electronics Pr# 56-9116-18$11K
- Federal contractDefense · Laser Head Repair$5K
- Federal grantDefense · Phase I · Advanced Analyzers for Monitoring Submarine Atmosphere$125K
- Federal contractDefense · Low-noise Linear Power Supply Pr# 81-5010-18$18K
- Federal contractDefense · Laser Controller$8K
- Federal contractDefense · Frequency/phase Locks Pr# 56-9124-17$12K
- Federal contractDefense · Distributed Bragg Reflector Laser System$24K
- Federal contractDefense · Spectroscopy Mod., (rb), Free-space$9K
- Federal grantDefense · Phase II · Long Term Ultrastable Laser System for Space Based Atomic PNT$736K
- Federal contractCommerce · Laser Diode Controller$4K
- Federal contractDefense · Sands - S&e Item # D2-125 Reconfigurabl$18K
- Federal grantNASA · Phase II · Robust Frequency Combs and Lasers for Optical Clocks and Sensing$748K
- Federal contractNASA · Igf::ot::igf Vescent Photonics Proposes To Bring An Environmentally Robust Compact High Fidelity Frequency Comb To The Commercial Market. This Will Be Comb Based On A Nist Design Augmented With A High Bandwidth Graphene Modulator. Vescent Will Partner With Mrads, A Cu Spinoff Commercializing High Bandwidth Graphene Modulators For Modelocked Lasers. These Modulators Will Both Improve Performance Of The Nist Comb And Also Give Vescent The Freedom To Operate In The Commercial Market. These Devices $701K
- Federal grantDefense · Phase II · High Throughput, Waveguide Based, Non-Mechanical Laser Beam Steering$750K
- Federal contractDefense · Research&development "igf::ot::igf"$375K
- Federal contractNASA · Igf::ot::igf In This Phase II SBIR We Will Design, Build, Test, And Deliver Extremely Low Size, Weight, And Power (swap) Non-mechanical, Electro-optic (EO) Laser Beamsteerers That Are Optimized For Space Based Laser Communications (lasercom). These New Beamsteerers, Which Will Finally Satisfy The Decades Long Dream Of Providing A Viable Alternative To Opto-mechanics, Will Controllably Steer High Power (>10 Watts), Low Divergence (<100 Micoradians) Lasers With No Moving Parts. Novel Self-calibrat$173K
- Federal contractDefense · Standard Laser System$37K
- Federal contractCommerce · Two Laser Diode Current Controllers And One Power Supply.$9K
- Federal contractDefense · Spectroscopy Equip$11K
- Federal contractDefense · Igf::ot::igf SBIR II, Integrated Opto-electronic Components For Multiaxis Inertial$749K
- Federal contractDefense · Liquid Crystal$14K
- Federal contractCommerce · Offset Phase Lock Servo And Power Supply$5K
- Federal contractDefense · Dbr Laser Module @ 795 Nm$27K
- Federal contractDefense · Igf::ot::igf SBIR 2 - Optical Sys Precision Atomic Clocks Stable Oscill$747K
- Federal grantDefense · Phase II · Integrated Opto-Electronic Components for Multiaxis Inertial Measurement Units$749K
- Federal grantNASA · Phase I · Electro-Optically Scanned Micro-Laser Communication Module$124K
- Federal contractNASA · Igf::ot::igf Optical Frequency Combs Are The Key Enabling Technology That Enabled The Immense Fractional Stability Of Highly-stabilized Lasers In The Optical Regime To Be Transferred To The RF Domain And Thus Ushered In New Generation Of Optical Atomic Clock With Orders Of Magnitude Improved Stability Over Their RF Atomic Clock Predecessors. Frequency Combs Have Also Found Applications In Spectroscopy, LIDAR, Arbitrary Waveform Generation, And Stable Microwave Oscillators. In Phase 1 Vescent Wil$125K
- Federal contractDefense · Igf::ot::igf SBIR Phase I F2KBAA5107B119/BASIC$150K
- Federal contractCommerce · Electronic Components To Supply The Laser Current, Temperature Control, And Frequency Locking Capability Needed To Power And Stabilize A Diode-laser System.$9K
- Federal contractDefense · Complete System For Temperature-controlling, Current-controlling, And Frequency Locking For Four (4) Distributed Bragg Reflector (dbr) Diode Lasers$36K
- Federal contractDefense · 780 Nm Dristributed Bragg Reflecting Laser$40K
- Federal contractDefense · Laser Module$25K
- Federal contractNASA · Igf::ot::igf To Support NASA Scan's Need For Cubesat Optical Communication Demonstration Capability From A Low Earth Orbit (leo) Distributed Network To Earth Terminals, By Leveraging Tools And Capabilities Developed Under A Phase I SBIR Project,"electrooptically Scanned Micro-laser Communication (milc)" And From Electronics Further Developed Beyond Phase I.$50K
- Federal contractDefense · SBIR Phase II Research And Devlopment$750K
- Federal contractDefense · Laser$4K
- Federal contractDefense · Igf::ot::igf Laser Servo$11K
- Federal contractDefense · Igf::ot::igf Integrated Opto-electronic Components For Multiaxis Inertial SBIR I$149K
- Federal contractDefense · Igf::ot::igf SBIR 1 - Optical System For Precision Atomic Clocks And Stable Oscillators$148K
- Federal contractDefense · D2-100-DBR-852$28K
- Federal contractDefense · Igf::ot::igf Waveguides$94K
- Federal contractNASA · Igf::ot::igf In This Phase II SBIR We Will Design, Build, Test, And Deliver New Scanning Based Micro-ladar Sensors With Unprecedented Small Size, Weight, And Power (swap), Thereby Enabling Scanning Ladar Deployment On Previously Inaccessible Platforms Such As Satellites. The System Will Range Out TO>1 Km, Have High Frame Rates, High Resolution (up To 500 500), High Range Accuracy (<5 Cm), Weigh Less Than A Kg, Be Constructed From Space Deployable Technologies With No-moving Parts. The Enabling T$747K
- Federal contractNASA · Igf::ot::igf High Bandwidth Communication Links Are Needed Between Satellites And Ground Stations, Inter-satellite, And To Airborne Assets. As Data Loads Increase And Satellites Available Payloads Decrease Keeping The Information Flowing Becomes Even More Challenging. In This SBIR Program We Will Design And Demonstrate The Feasibility Of Ultra-low Size, Weight, And Power (swap) Micro-laser Communications (milc) Modules For High Bandwidth (up To Gbps Or Possibly Much Higher) Data Links Between M$125K
- Federal contractCommerce · Re Pump Laser System$28K
- Federal contractDefense · DOD STTR 13.A$80K
- Federal contractCommerce · Dbr Laser$29K
- Federal contractDefense · Basic$978K
- Federal contractNASA · Igf::ot::igf In This SBIR Program We Will Develop, Design And Build New Scanning Based Micro-ladar Sensors With Unprecedented Small Size, Weight, And Power (swap), Thereby Enabling Scanning Ladar Deployment On Previously Inaccessible Platforms Such As Satellites. The System Will Range Out TO>1 Km, Have High Frame Rates, High Resolution (up To 1000 X 1000), High Range Accuracy (<15 Cm), Weigh Only Tens Of Grams, Be Constructed From Space Deployable Technologies With No-moving Parts. The Enabling $124K
- Federal contractDefense · D2-100-DBR-780$25K
- Federal contractDefense · Igf::ot::igf SBIR 2 - Diode Laser Systems$1.5M
- Federal contractCommerce · Laser Diode Controllers$9K
- Federal contractCommerce · Dbr Laser System$25K
- Federal contractDefense · Dbr Laser Module$22K
- Federal contractDefense · D2-100-DBR-780, Dbr Laser Module @780$49K
- Federal contractDefense · Offset Phase Lock Servo$15K
- Federal contractCommerce · Reconfigureable Laser Servo$4K
- Federal contractNASA · We Propose To Develop Compact Absolute Wavelength References To Weak Molecular Transitions, Which Is A Challenge Characteristic To Space-based Active Sensing. The Ascends Mission (active Sensing Of CO2 Over Nights, Days, And Seasons) Will Be The First Satellite-based Mission Employing Precision Laser Spectroscopy For Active Sensing Of Molecules In Space. Although Ascends Will Be First, It Is Expected That Future NASA Missions For Planetary Sensing Or Venture Class Missions Will Also Use Active S$125K
- Federal contractDefense · SBIR N111-039-1602$149K
- Federal contractDefense · Ph I Research&development$100K
- Federal contractCommerce · Low Phase Amplifier$21K
- Federal contractNASA · The Purpose Of This Phase II SBIR Is To Design And Build New Non-mechanical, Electro-optic (EO) Laser Scanners That Will Be Suitable For Space Based Laser Ranging, With A Specific Focus On The Upcoming LIDAR Surface Topography (list) Mission. Even Though The Applications For EO Laser Scanning Are Extensive And Pervasive, Replacing Opto-mechanics Has Been A Historically Intractable Problem. Vescent Photonics Has Developed A Proprietary Electro-optic Architecture That Enables, For The First Time, $598K
- Federal contractNASA · We Propose To Develop Compact Absolute Wavelength References To Weak Molecular Transitions, Which Is A Challenge Characteristic To Space-based Active Sensing. The Ascends Mission (active Sensing Of CO2 Over Nights, Days, And Seasons) Will Be The First Satellite-based Mission Employing Precision Laser Spectroscopy For Active Sensing Of Molecules In Space. Although Ascends Will Be First, It Is Expected That Future NASA Missions For Planetary Sensing Or Venture Class Missions Will Also Use Active S$100K
- Federal contractDefense · SBIR I - Diode Lasers For Space-based Cold Atom Clocks$100K
- Federal contractDefense · Performance Of Work In Accordance With$749K
- Federal contractDefense · SBIR II - Ultra-low Swap$750K
- Federal contractDefense · Research And Development In The Physical, Engineering, And Life Sciences (except Biotechnology)$139K
- Federal contractDefense · Dbr Laser Module$21K
- Federal contractDefense · Laser Controller$9K
- Federal contractDefense · SBIR I Low Cost, Low Swap Micro-ladar As Enabled By Revolutionary EO Scanner$100K
- Federal contractCommerce · Laser Controller (200MA), Part Number D2-105 And Power Supply, Part Number D2-005.$9K
- Federal contractNASA · Purchasing A Design Scanner$50K
- Federal contractDefense · Equipment$10K
- Federal contractDefense · Multi-access Optical Communications Modules As Enabled By Revolutionary EO Scanner Technology$99K
- Federal contractNASA · TAS::80 0119::TAS Vescent Photonics Proposes To Design And Build Significantly Improved Laser Frequency Locking And Control Systems That Will Be Suitable For Ascends And Other NASA Sensing Needs. Precision Laser Frequency Control (absolute Frequency To Better Than 1 Mhz With Rapid Tuning Over 10'S To 100'S Of Ghz) For Lasers In Both The 1.57 CO2 Overtone Region For Direct CO2 Detection And Around 1.53 M, Which May Be Doubled To Reach The O2 A-band Spectral-trough Feature At 764.7 Nm, Will Be De$100K
- Federal contractNASA · Vescent Photonics Propose To Design And Build Revolutionary Non-mechanical, Electro-optic (EO) Laser Scanners That Will Be Suitable For Space Based Laser Ranging, With A Specific Focus On The Upcoming LIDAR Surface Topography (list) Mission. The Success Of Past And Current Space Based LIDAR Missions (e.g., Icesat, Calipso, Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, Messenger) Has Demonstrated The Utility Of LIDAR. List, Which Will Provide A High-resolution (5 Meters Horizontal And 10 Centimeters Vertical) To$100K
- Federal contractDefense · Research And Development In The Physical, Engineering, And Life Sciences (except Biotechnology)$149K
- Federal contractCommerce · Laser Servo With Peak Option$4K
- Federal contractDefense · Darpa SBIR Phase I$99K
- Federal contractDefense · Vescent Photonics SBIR I$100K
- Federal contractNASA · Tunable Seed Lasers For Laser Remote Sensing Of CO2 And O2 Vescent Photonics Propose To Develop A Chip-sized Narrow Linewidth (<50 Khz), Widely Tunable (>10 Nm's) Diode Laser That Will Be Suitable For A Wide Variety Of NASA Remote Sensing Missions. The Proposed Laser Platform Enables Easy Selection Of The Laser Center Wavelength; These Lasers Can Be Easily Built For Any Wavelength That A Diode Laser Gain Chip Exists (<670 Nm TO>2.5 Microns). Since Spectral Features Of Important Molecular Specie$99K
- Federal contractDefense · (STTR Phase II) Chip-scale Laseres For Inertial Naviagation Systems Using Atom Chip Sensors$500K
- Federal contractDefense · (STTR Phase I) A Large Apeture Electro-optic-beamsteerer$100K
- Federal contractCommerce · Dbr Laser Module, Laser Controller, Reconfigurable Laser Servo With Peak Lock Power Supply$40K
- Federal contractDefense · 200610!000111!5700!FA9550!AFOSR/PK !FA955006C0038 !a!n! !y! ! !20060706!20080630!112697136!112697136!112697136!N!VESCENT Photonics INCORPORATED!4865 East 41ST Ave !denver !CO!80216!20000!031!08!DENVER !denver !colorado !+000000350000!N!N!000000699688!AJ16!RDTE/PHYSICAL Sciences - Management Support !S1 !services !000 !not Discernable !541710!E! !3! ! ! ! ! !999$700K
Federal awards are summed by year (144 awards); hover a bar for the split. Form D reports securities sold, which can differ from an announced round; filings are numbered in the order they were made.
2 records have no date or no amount, so they aren’t placed on the timeline.
Federal first
207months
from VESCENT TECHNOLOGIES INC.’s first federal award to its first private round.
- First federal award · Jul 2006
- Defense · $700K
- First Form D · Oct 2023
- $200K · 1st Form D
- Awards before first raise
- 116 awards
An association in public records, not a cause or a prediction.
Standing among 164 peers
Line = medianDefense · Device
- Federal grants#19 · top 12%
Cumulative measures favor older companies. Rankings describe position today, not outcome. Below the median, ranks show as a band rather than a number.
Founders and team
Researcher links verified by same-company patents and grants- SCOTT DAVISResearcherExecutive Officer, DirectorLinked by $124K in grants as PI
- Mark WippichDirectorNamed in SEC Form D filings
- MICHAEL ANDERSONDirectorNamed in SEC Form D filings
- Russ FeinExecutive Officer, DirectorNamed in SEC Form D filings
- Scott RommelExecutive Officer, DirectorNamed in SEC Form D filings
What it has protected
No granted patents are on record.
USPTO usually publishes applications 18 months after filing, so recent applications may not be visible yet. Patents assigned under a different entity name won’t match.
Checked: USPTO granted patents and published applications · Oct 23, 2026
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Regulatory activity · Defense
- Danger Zone; Waters of Carr Creek and Whitehall Bay in the Vicinity of the Naval Support Activity AnnapolisEngineers Corps
- Federal Acquisition Regulation; Federal Acquisition Circular 2026-01; IntroductionNational Aeronautics and Space Administration
- Federal Acquisition Regulation: Trade Agreements ThresholdsNational Aeronautics and Space Administration
- Federal Acquisition Regulation; Federal Acquisition Circular 2026-01; Small Entity Compliance GuideNational Aeronautics and Space Administration
- Federal Acquisition Regulation; Federal Acquisition Circular 2025-06; Small Entity Compliance GuideNational Aeronautics and Space Administration
- Federal Acquisition Regulation; Federal Acquisition Circular 2025-06; IntroductionNational Aeronautics and Space Administration
Rules are matched to sector, not to company. Recent activity in a sector is context rather than a signal about this business — until rules are matched to what a company actually builds, the section is shown as context and nothing more.
Sources
Federal grants from SBIR/STTR, NIH, NSF and DoD records. Federal contracts from USAspending.gov. Private capital from SEC Form D. Patents from USPTO. Publications from OpenAlex. Regulatory activity from the Federal Register. Press matched on company name.
How to read this page
Figures show associations in public records, not causes or predictions. Nothing here is investment advice. An em-dash means no record was found under this company's name, not that none exists.
Data freshness
SEC Form D filings through . SBIR and STTR awards through .