M Squared Lasers, a photonics company based out of Glasgow, has entered administration after almost 20 years of operation.
The company, which developed lasers for a broad range of uses from quantum computing to chemical sensing, served customers across the globe, including in the UK, Europe, Asia and the US.
M Squared Lasers has now ceased trading and has made all 28 employees redundant.
According to administrators, the company was never able to recover from the “detrimental impact” of both the Covid pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which raised costs and made key components of the business’s technology difficult to procure.
Geoff Jacobs, managing director of Interpath and joint administrator of the deep tech firm said “We are now rapidly exploring options to sell the business and its prized assets, including the company’s highly specialised intellectual property, and encourage any interested parties to contact us quickly”.
Fellow administrator Alistair McAlinden said Interpath has “mobilised our specialist employee team to ensure that all possible support is provided to the Company’s employees in submitting their claims to the Redundancy Payments Service”.
M Squared Lasers was founded by Dr Graeme Malcolm and Dr Gareth Maker. The company has received significant funds from government, including from Innovate UK and the Scottish government-owned Scottish National Investment Bank, which put £34m into the business.