This Vilnius Startup Just Got $8.7M to Supercharge Laser Manufacturing

Jan de Vries · 2026-08-18

LITILIT, a Vilnius-based company, just secured a major financial boost to make femtosecond lasers more practical for factories worldwide. The company received an $8.7 million loan from the Lithuanian National Development Bank ILTE to develop its FEMODA modular laser system. This isn't just another funding round—it's a bet on transforming how advanced lasers get adopted across industries. The entire project carries a price tag of $10.9 million, with the company putting in $2.2 million of its own money. Commercialization is slated for the second half of 2029, and LITILIT has already broken ground on a massive new production facility in Vilnius. ### Why Femtosecond Lasers Matter More Than You Think Femtosecond lasers use incredibly short pulses—measured in quadrillionths of a second—to process materials without damaging the surrounding structure. This process, called cold ablation, is what makes them essential for delicate operations like eye surgery, crafting vascular stents, and manufacturing computer chips and display screens. But there's a catch. Most existing systems are heavy, complicated, and expensive to maintain. They typically rely on water cooling, which means dedicated circulation and cleaning infrastructure. They need massive optical bases and sensitive components to deliver the beam precisely. And they demand temperature-controlled environments to function properly. ### The Problem With Current Laser Systems CEO Nikolajus Gavrilinas puts it bluntly: all that complexity limits where lasers can actually be used. Factories can't just plug one in and start working. You need specialists to install it, maintain it, and keep everything calibrated. That's where FEMODA changes the game. LITILIT is building a system that combines control electronics, optics, and cooling into a single industrial unit. No more separate cooling loops, no more massive optical tables, no more climate-controlled rooms. "Our new modular platform will be less sensitive to temperature, humidity, and vibration," Gavrilinas explained. "Its modules can be combined into a more powerful system. If one fails, only that module needs replacing—not the whole system." ### What Makes FEMODA Different The new system targets an average optical power of up to 1,000 watts, split across 10 to 20 separate beam channels. Each channel delivers femtosecond pulses to a different processing point on a production line simultaneously. That makes it one of the most powerful modular industrial laser systems ever built. Here's what that means in practical terms: - Metal tool manufacturers can process large surfaces at scale - Aircraft and car body coating applications become feasible - Consumer electronics, displays, and chip production get faster - Existing applications become quicker and more cost-effective ### Scaling Up Production To meet expected demand, LITILIT started building a new high-capacity laser factory in Vilnius back in June. The facility will begin operations this fall and aims to produce 3,000 femtosecond lasers per year. That's a serious jump in capacity for a company founded in 2015. LITILIT's technology is built on patented inventions from co-founders Kęstutis Regelskis, Nerijus Rusteika, and Gavrilinas, developed in collaboration with the Centre for Physical Sciences and Technology (FTMC) in Vilnius. ### The Bigger Picture This funding is about more than just one company. It's about making femtosecond laser technology accessible to industries that previously couldn't justify the infrastructure costs. If FEMODA delivers on its promises, we could see lasers become as common on factory floors as robotic arms are today. The $10.9 million investment is a clear signal that LITILIT believes in this vision. And with production ramping up next year, we won't have to wait long to see if the technology lives up to the hype.