Monday, September 11, 2006

Startup ALIS swept up by Carl Zeiss

Just 16 months after landing its first round of funding, Peabody-based ALIS Corp., a developer of scanning helium-ion microscopes and imaging systems using nanotechnology, has been acquired by Carl Zeiss' Nano Technology Systems Division (NTS).

Financial details of the deal were not provided.

ALIS was founded in 2005 by Chief Executive Officer Nick Economou and a team that includes Chief Technology Officer Bill Ward, a co-founder of Peabody's Micrion Corp., which was acquired by FEI Co. in 1999. The company landed $8.75 million from Kodiak Venture Partners, Arch Venture Partners and Intel Capital in 2005.

The 36 scientists and engineers, including Ward and Economou, employed by ALIS will stay with the company, according to officials, and the company will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Germany-based Carl Zeiss SMT. ALIS' core technology and research efforts will also remain in Peabody.

Future plans include an increase in staff to help bring ALIS' helium ion microscopes to market.

The company's atomic-level microscopes are aimed at various industries, including the semiconductor manufacturing and complex pharmaceuticals markets.