Brave Analytics

Brave Analytics is an Austrian deep-tech company that develops laboratory and process-analytical-technology (PAT) instruments for particle analysis. Its core proposition is a radically new approach to characterizing particles: instead of the snapshot-style measurements produced by established techniques such as dynamic light scattering (DLS), laser diffraction or nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA), Brave Analytics offers continuous, seamless, real-time particle data that is statistically representative of an entire particle population. The company markets its instruments to industries where particle contamination and particle-size distribution are quality-critical, explicitly naming semiconductor manufacturing and the production of pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and biotechnological formulations. The technological heart of the company is OF2i® — OptoFluidic Force Induction — a patented method for nanoparticle characterization. OF2i® uses light as a tool: a donut-shaped laser is focused through a liquid sample pumped through a measuring cell, exerting an optical force that pushes particles forward and rotates them around the beam center. The company describes this as taking Arthur Ashkin's optical-tweezer principle several steps further. The result is a continuous measurement stream rather than isolated snapshots, enabling users to detect impurities and large particles, monitor particle-size distribution continuously, observe time-critical processes such as fermentation or emulsion polymerization in real time, and gain previously unseen insight into particle processes. Brave Analytics sells both laboratory solutions and PAT sensors. Its instruments are designed for minimal sample preparation — often only dilution is required for particle size, concentration and size-distribution measurement, while Raman analysis of particles such as microplastics in water requires no sample preparation at all. The systems work with single-particle precision, detecting individual particles and reporting results based on each particle's individual properties, and they perform chemical analysis of particles in flow, monitoring sample behavior in real time and detecting aggregates and other large particles. The company positions itself as capable of handling demanding, polydisperse samples. The company presents itself through a strongly values-driven brand narrative built around the word "BRAVE": bold enough to approach things differently, enthusiastic about customers' challenges, committed to continuous improvement, and innovative in thinking "outside the box." Its stated mission is to foster human well-being and awaken curiosity by enabling deeper insight into particle processes, thereby advancing innovation and contributing to a healthier and safer world. Brave Analytics is an active, privately held Austrian company; it is not listed on a stock exchange. Its scientific credibility is reinforced by a body of peer-reviewed publications on the OF2i® method in journals including Physical Review Applied, Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry, Nanophotonics and Nano Letters.

Brave Analytics is an Austrian company focused on particle analysis, described in public data as an Austrian nano-particle analysis company. It has built its identity and product line around a single patented measurement principle, OF2i® (OptoFluidic Force Induction), which it presents as a decisive advance in nanoparticle characterization. The scientific foundations of the method were developed and published by the company's team together with academic collaborators. A key early publication, "Real-Time Nanoparticle Characterization Through Optofluidic Force Induction," appeared in Physical Review Applied (Volume 18, Issue 2, 024056) on 19 August 2022, authored by Marko Šimić, Doris Auer, Christian Neuper, Nikola Šimić, Gerhard Prossliner, Ruth Prassl, Christian Hill and Ulrich Hohenester. A theoretical companion paper, "Theoretical Description of Optofluidic Force Induction," followed in Physical Review Applied (Volume 19, Issue 3, 034041) on 13 March 2023, authored by Marko Šimić, Christian Hill and Ulrich Hohenester. On 1 July 2023 the team published "Optofluidic force induction as a process analytical technology" in Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry (Volume 415, pages 5181–5191), authored by Šimić M, Neuper C, Hohenester U and Hill C — an explicit bridge from the laboratory method to process analytics. On 29 January 2024, "Imaging the scattered light of a nanoparticle through a cylindrical capillary" appeared in Nanophotonics 13(4), 457–463, by Ulrich Hohenester, Christian Neuper, Marko Šimić and Christian Hill. Most recently, "Optofluidic Force Induction: A Workbench for Nanoparticle Characterization and Material Analytics" was published in Nano Letters, Volume 25, Issue 22, on 21 May 2025, authored by Marko Šimić, Christian Neuper, Raphael Hauer, Karin Grießmair, Christian Hill and Ulrich Hohenester. The company also lists work combining OF2i with Raman spectroscopy and inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry as a new hyphenated technique for complementary particle characterization. Commercially, Brave Analytics has translated this research into two product families: laboratory solutions and PAT sensors. The company markets its instruments to semiconductor manufacturing and to producers of pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and biotechnological formulations, emphasizing continuous monitoring of particle-size distribution, detection of impurities and large particles, and real-time observation of time-critical processes such as fermentation and emulsion polymerization. Its brand narrative is built around the word "BRAVE" — bold, enthusiastic, committed and innovative — and a mission to enable deeper insight into particle processes for a healthier and safer world. The company remains privately held and active.

• Publication of "Real-Time Nanoparticle Characterization Through Optofluidic Force Induction" in Physical Review Applied (18(2), 024056).

• Publication of "Theoretical Description of Optofluidic Force Induction" in Physical Review Applied (19(3), 034041).

• Publication of "Optofluidic force induction as a process analytical technology" in Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry (415, 5181–5191).

• Publication of "Imaging the scattered light of a nanoparticle through a cylindrical capillary" in Nanophotonics 13(4), 457–463.

• Publication of "Optofluidic Force Induction: A Workbench for Nanoparticle Characterization and Material Analytics" in Nano Letters (25(22)).

Deep-tech provider of continuous, real-time nanoparticle characterization for laboratory and process environments, positioned as a radical alternative to snapshot-based particle-measurement methods.

• OF2i® (OptoFluidic Force Induction)

  Patented method for nanoparticle characterization using a donut-shaped laser to exert optical force on particles in a flowing liquid, producing continuous, real-time, statistically representative particle data.

• Laboratory solutions for particle analysis

  Laboratory instruments for particle size, concentration and size-distribution measurement, requiring minimal sample preparation.

• PAT sensors

  Process analytical technology sensors for continuous in-line monitoring of particle-size distribution and detection of aggregates and large particles.

1. 1BRAVE Analytics | Partikelanalytik neu definiertbraveanalytics.eu
2. 2Lerne das Team & die Geschichte von BRAVE Analytics kennenbraveanalytics.eu
3. 3OF2i® - Online Partikelcharakterisierung für Labor und PATbraveanalytics.eu
4. 4Wissenschaftliche Publikationen von BRAVE Analyticsbraveanalytics.eu
5. 5Brave Analyticswikidata.org