TiHive raises €8 million to scale Terahertz-AI quality inspection across hygiene, textiles, recycling and space

Brussels, October 2nd 2025

Summary

›TiHive has secured an €8 million funding round led by Karista, Wind and the EIC Fund to accelerate commercialisation and international expansion.
›The Grenoble deeptech company combines CMOS terahertz chips, optics and AI to deliver inline, non-destructive, see-through inspection on production lines.
›TiHive says its systems enable 100 percent real-time inspection, reduce material waste and downtime, and already serve major hygiene manufacturers.
›Funding will support market expansion into textiles, recycling, agriculture and space, R&D on next-generation terahertz chips and hires in sales, support and product development.
›Claims such as 300 tons of super-absorbent polymer saved per equipped line and a billion-product analysis milestone are significant but will need independent verification as deployments scale.

TiHive raises €8 million to scale Terahertz-AI inspection across multiple industries

TiHive, a Grenoble-born deeptech company that integrates terahertz imaging with artificial intelligence for inline industrial inspection, announced on 2 October 2025 that it has raised €8 million. The round includes investment from Karista, Wind and the European Innovation Council Fund. TiHive says the fresh capital will accelerate commercialisation, expand international deployments and finance R&D aimed at a new generation of terahertz chips and AI capabilities.

What TiHive does and why it matters

TiHive builds industrial vision systems that use terahertz waves to see beneath surfaces without contact or destructive testing. The company integrates those sensors on silicon CMOS chips and pairs them with optics and cloud-based AI analytics. The systems are designed to run at production line speeds and to inspect every product in real time rather than relying on sampling-based destructive tests. TiHive positions this approach as a way to reduce waste, avoid recalls and optimise raw material use while improving process stability.

Terahertz waves and see-through sensing:Terahertz radiation sits between microwave and infrared frequencies in the electromagnetic spectrum. It penetrates many non-metallic materials and can reveal internal structure such as density variations, material distribution and moisture. Because terahertz energy is non-ionising it is generally considered safe for industrial inspection. Practical challenges include limited penetration through metals and some liquids, and absorption by atmospheric water vapour which affects range in open-air settings.

CMOS integration and why it matters:TiHive emphasises terahertz-on-silicon, that is terahertz emitters and detectors implemented on CMOS semiconductor processes. Integrating terahertz functions on CMOS aims to reduce cost, enable miniaturisation and support volume manufacturing. In practice achieving efficient terahertz generation and detection on CMOS requires careful design to contend with losses and limited power at those frequencies. Commercial success depends on matching chip performance to industrial throughput and environmental conditions.

Technology claims, deployments and use cases

TiHive sells multi-camera, multi-source inspection systems engineered for harsh factory conditions. The product suite runs inline, connected to machines and to cloud analytics, and the company says systems can measure thousands of products per minute. Early commercial validation has come in the absorbent hygiene sector where TiHive’s systems are used to detect internal defects, measure material distribution and prevent raw material overdosing. TiHive reports deployments in the Netherlands, the United States, Italy and Greece.

Reported operational benefits:According to TiHive, equipped production lines can reduce raw material overdosing, cut waste, increase line efficiency and detect faults that would otherwise cause downtime or product rejects. The company claims a single hygiene production line can save up to 300 tons of super-absorbent polymer each year, which it converts to an avoided 1,500 tons of CO2 equivalent. TiHive also reports building a large database for diaper quality and says it analyses millions of products weekly with a billion-product milestone expected after this funding round. These figures point to measurable ROI but should be validated case by case by customers and auditors.

TiHive is explicitly pursuing markets where non-destructive, inline control can have immediate value. Target sectors listed by the company include hygiene, textiles and leather, recycling, agriculture, ceramics and aerospace. The startup also highlights potential space use cases such as non-destructive verification of materials in orbit and situational awareness for debris detection, and it mentions future communications applications at higher terahertz frequencies that could contribute to ultra-fast links.

Business model and commercial strategy

Subscription and services model:TiHive sells hardware combined with an annual subscription that bundles equipment access, AI analytics, monitoring services and operational support. This is a common model in industrial IoT where vendors seek recurring revenue to cover software, updates and ongoing data services. For customers the appeal is reduced upfront cost and continuous improvement, while for TiHive the model generates predictable revenue if customer retention is strong.

The new €8 million will be used to drive marketing and commercialisation, to scale international deployments across Europe, Latin America and Asia Pacific, and to expand the product roadmap with broader frequency terahertz chips and advanced AI features. TiHive is recruiting in sales, marketing, customer support and in terahertz IC and AI product development. The company says it will continue to produce, assemble and validate systems in Europe to support industrial sovereignty objectives.

Item	Details	Notes
Total funding	€8 million	Announced 2 October 2025
Lead investors	Karista, Wind, EIC Fund	EIC Fund continues long term support following EIC Accelerator award
Use of proceeds	Commercialisation, international deployment, R&D for terahertz chips, hires
Current deployments	Netherlands, United States, Italy, Greece
Target industries	Hygiene, textiles, recycling, agriculture, aerospace and space

Investors and institutional context

The round brings together public and private deeptech investors. The European Innovation Council Fund has supported TiHive since an EIC Accelerator blended award in 2020 under the TULIPZ project. The EIC Fund plays a strategic role in the EU innovation ecosystem by providing equity to help bridge the financing gap between grant funding and commercial venture capital for disruptive technologies. Karista is a European deeptech hardware investor with a focus on spacetech among other areas. Wind is a mission-driven European VC whose Article 9 fund targets deeptech that advances climate adaptation and technological sovereignty.

EIC Accelerator and EIC Fund explained:The EIC Accelerator is a European Commission programme that provides blended finance combining grants and equity to high-risk, high-impact deeptech firms. The EIC Fund is the equity arm that takes stakes in companies supported by the programme to help them scale and attract follow-on private capital. This structure aims to reduce early-stage investment risk and strengthen strategic technologies within Europe.

Founders, team and corporate footprint

TiHive was founded in Grenoble in 2017 by Hani Sherry and Carlos Prada. Hani Sherry is the CEO and holds a PhD in microelectronics with executive business qualifications. Carlos Prada is CIO with a PhD in computer science, an MBA in finance and prior business training. The company reports a team of about 14 people at the time of the announcement and intends to expand headcount as it commercialises internationally. TiHive says it manufactures, assembles and validates systems in Europe.

Investor commentary and positioning

Investor statements accompanying the round underscore the strategic and technical rationale behind backing TiHive. The EIC Fund highlighted terahertz-on-silicon, AI and big data analytics as capabilities that can boost efficiency, sustainability and Europe’s technological autonomy. Karista emphasised space and communication use cases, while Wind pointed to miniaturisation on CMOS and the subscription model as drivers of ROI and market traction.

Risks, open questions and scaling challenges

The technology and business proposition are promising but not without hurdles. Terahertz sensing has physical limits depending on materials and environmental conditions. Integrating terahertz generation and detection on CMOS is technically demanding and scaling production to large volumes may reveal yield and performance trade-offs. Industrial adoption requires clear proof of ROI across diverse customers and manufacturing environments. Data governance, integration with existing factory control systems and long term maintenance of AI models are practical issues customers must resolve. Finally, headline claims about material and carbon savings will need transparent, auditable evidence as deployment scales and as regulators and procurement teams demand verification.

What to watch next

Key milestones to track include commercial rollouts beyond hygiene clinics, independent validation of claimed material and emissions savings, progress on the next-generation terahertz chips with extended frequencies, and early demonstrations of the company’s space and communications use cases. Pay attention to customer case studies that include hard performance and financial metrics, and to how the company manages production yields and supply chain constraints while retaining a European manufacturing footprint.

Investor quotes

Svetoslava Georgieva, Chair of the EIC Fund Board, said the EIC Fund is glad to continue working with TiHive and highlighted the combination of terahertz-on-silicon, AI and big data analytics as technologies that can enhance efficiency, sustainability and Europe’s strategic autonomy.

Emmanuel Daugeras, Partner at Karista, described TiHive as an example of the deeptech projects Karista targets and pointed to space applications such as automated docking and space situational awareness as potential high impact areas.

Aurélie Nicolas, General Partner at Wind, said the company was impressed by TiHive’s miniaturisation of terahertz imaging on CMOS and the combination with AI. She noted the subscription model and fast ROI as reasons the product provides tangible value to customers.

Company background and contact

TiHive was founded in Grenoble in 2017 and focuses on inline non-destructive testing using terahertz imaging and artificial intelligence. The company lists hygiene, textiles, recycling, agriculture and space among its target markets. Additional details are available through TiHive’s website and public entries such as Horizon Europe project pages for the EIC-backed work.

This article synthesises TiHive’s announcements and investor statements and adds contextual analysis on technical and market challenges. Reported performance numbers and claimed savings originate from the company and its investors and should be confirmed by third party verification where relevant.