In the future, the North- and South American customers should benefit from faster response time and customer proximity. For this reason, NEXTSENSE is opening its first foreign subsidiary in Atlanta, in the State of Georgia. Currently the US market is served solely by the company’s sales partners. „Intensifying our presence in the USA is an important step for our ambitious growth goals. Only this way we can fully exploit the great market potential and take the local interest comprehensively into account,” explains Clemens Gasser, CEO of NEXTSENSE GmbH.

From start-up to internationalization

NEXTSENSE GmbH was founded only nine years ago by four young researchers and is today at the industries forefront with almost 60 employees in Austria. The company from Graz developed a technology based on laser light section that enables contactless and handheld profile measurement. Using a patented tilt correction method, that eliminates any imprecisions and potential measurement errors, the handy devices called CALIPRI can be moved freely around the object to be measured. Depending on specific market requirements, the young company offers different versions of this innovative technology – both portable gauges, as well as in-line robots and large stationary systems are developed and produced in Graz. Major players in the automotive, railway and metal industry rely on this cutting-edge technology, whereby the NEXTSENSE´s measuring devices are already in use in numerous countries around the world.

Eager Expansion

With its subsidiary in Atlanta, the specialist in optical sensor technology pursues its growth strategy. „By 2020, we want to triple our sales and to increase the number of employees well over 100,“ delineates Gasser. For this reason, the company is steadily recruiting motivated employees, also for its Styrian headquarter, especially in the areas of mechatronics, electronics, and software technology.

The United States of America is only the first milestone in the course of NEXTSENSE´s international expansion, as another subsidiary is to be opened in China next year. „In the future, we want to be closer to our customers. Direct contact is particularly important for us, because only this way we can react fast enough to the needs of our demanding market,” says Clemens Gasser.

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 726903.