Lithuanian laser manufacturer LITILIT has opened a €6 million factory in Vilnius, with plans to supply customers across Europe, North America and Asia and expand annual production to 3,000 femtosecond lasers.
The facility, which opened on 16 October, covers more than 4,000 sq m. According to the company, it has the highest potential femtosecond laser production capacity in the world.
LITILIT intends to increase output gradually, targeting 1,000 lasers during the first year after launch before reaching full capacity. Most of its production will be exported, serving industries including semiconductor manufacturing, electronics and medicine.
The investment marks a significant expansion for the Vilnius-headquartered business, which has been developing its laser technology since 2014.
Nikolajus Gavrilinas, co-founder and CEO of LITILIT, said:
“The growing use of femtosecond lasers in semiconductor manufacturing, data center equipment, electronics, medicine and other fields is driving demand across Europe, North America and Asia. Our factory comes at exactly the right time and will serve businesses on all three continents. The Vilnius plant is only the first stop; later, we plan to replicate this model in other countries together with our international partners.”
Automated Manufacturing to Support Expansion
Construction began in June at Sirin Park Gariūnai, a logistics park developed by SIRIN Development on Plungės Street in Vilnius.
The factory houses a CNC metal machining shop, robotised laser assembly and testing operations, and an approximately 2,500 sq m ISO 5 cleanroom, described by the company as one of the largest in the Baltic region.
At full capacity, the facility is expected to employ around 150 people. LITILIT says its automated manufacturing approach requires several times fewer employees than conventional production methods.
The company attributes its ability to increase output to a patented architecture combining modular design, reduced component complexity and extensive automation.
Gavrilinas said femtosecond laser manufacturing has traditionally been difficult to scale because the technology developed from scientific systems. The announcement cites an estimate from Reports and Markets putting global production capacity at 9,600 units in 2025.
Smaller Lasers Designed for Industrial Integration
Alongside greater manufacturing capacity, LITILIT is seeking to make femtosecond lasers easier to incorporate into industrial production lines.
According to Gavrilinas, the company’s lasers achieve approximately 20% electrical-to-optical efficiency and are up to half the size of the industry average.
Femtosecond lasers deliver extremely short pulses, allowing materials to be processed with minimal heat damage to surrounding structures. Known as cold ablation, this capability supports applications including eye surgery, vascular stent production, computer chip manufacturing and display screen production.
LITILIT’s technology is based on two international patents, one developed in collaboration with Lithuania’s Center for Physical Sciences and Technology, known as FTMC.
Lithuanian Research Reaches International Markets
Ramūnas Skaudžius, director at FTMC, said the factory demonstrated how scientific research developed in Lithuania could underpin a business serving global customers.
“The laser technology developed and patented at FTMC has now become the foundation of advanced industrial manufacturing. Yet the technology itself is not the most important part of the story. What matters most is that knowledge created in Lithuania has been transformed into a business capable of competing on the international stage. This is a long and demanding journey that requires not only scientific excellence, but also entrepreneurial courage, investors’ confidence, and perseverance,” Skaudžius said.
The Vilnius factory forms the first stage of LITILIT’s wider international manufacturing ambitions. The company plans to reproduce the production model in other countries through partnerships, supporting its aim of increasing industrial adoption of femtosecond laser technology.
Further information: LITILIT
Image: Nikolajus Gavrilinas, CEO and co-founder of LITILIT, at the factory opening event in Vilnius. Source: LITILIT.