Europe’s ageing infrastructure faces unprecedented pressure from climate change, urbanisation, and underinvestment. For example, UK water utilities lost over 1 trillion litres to leaks in 2023 alone — enough to fill 400,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools. Lightsonic, a pioneering UK-Norwegian software company, addresses this urgent need by transforming fibre optic networks into intelligent, real-time sensor networks.
Their core software platform seamlessly integrates with passive telecom, eliminating the need for hardware modifications and making it both scalable and cost-effective. By overlaying machine learning and AI analytics on these networks, Lightsonic enables high-resolution, continuous monitoring of critical infrastructure such as water and gas transmission lines, energy grids, telecom networks, and subsea assets.
Today, the company has raised €3.3 million in seed funding to develop intelligent monitoring solutions that enhance sustainability, resilience, and security in water utilities and critical infrastructure. Maki VC led the investment, with participation from RAISEVentures and Sondo.
Lightsonic will use the funding to accelerate product development, expand its team, and scale its technology for commercial deployment. “This investment marks a significant milestone in our mission to enhance the safety, sustainability, and efficiency of critical infrastructure worldwide. We are grateful for the trust and support of our investors as we bring our cutting-edge fibre optic sensing solutions to market,” said Tommy Langnes, co-founder and CEO of Lightsonic.
Lightsonic: Addressing critical challenges in industrial monitoring
Lightsonic was established in 2024 by Tommy Langnes (CEO and Co-founder), Thomas Coleman (Head of Growth and Co-founder), and James Ramsay (CTO and Co-founder). Based in Kristiansund, Norway, with an office in London, the founders bring over 25 years of collective experience developing distributed fibre optic sensing and AI/ML solutions for leading industrial clients, spanning technological innovation, business development, and software platform creation.
The company’s roots lie in the oil and gas industry, where co-founder Tommy Langnes developed fibre optic systems for BP’s well monitoring operations, generating over $1 billion in value. After BP discontinued the technology in 2023, the team recognised its broader potential and shifted focus to address critical challenges in the water and defence sectors. Their vision is to help industries operate more securely, efficiently, and sustainably through early detection of leaks, equipment failures, and security threats via scalable, hardware-independent platforms.
Founders established Lightsonic to provide advanced, real-time fibre optic sensing and AI-driven analytics for the water, oil, gas, and defence industries. Through early threat detection using scalable, hardware-agnostic platforms, they aim to help industries operate more securely, efficiently, and sustainably.
How does the technology work?
Lightsonic’s software analyses backscattered light signals from existing fibre optic cables to detect acoustic, temperature, and vibrational changes. Its proprietary AI and machine learning models classify threats and events instantly, improving with each deployment. This allows utilities and operators to monitor extensive infrastructure in real time without costly hardware upgrades.
The technology transforms current fibre optic networks into advanced systems for real-time, high-resolution critical infrastructure monitoring, from water and gas transmission lines to telecom networks, energy grids, and subsea assets. By repurposing existing fibre optic cables, Lightsonic delivers scalable, cost-effective solutions for leak detection, threat identification, failure prevention, and operational efficiency.
The software uses machine learning models to classify threats and events, continuously improving its capabilities. It requires only a software overlay, with no physical reconfiguration needed. Beyond defence applications, the platform detects water and gas leaks, reduces environmental risks, and optimises city-scale infrastructure performance, supporting NATO-aligned energy resilience and climate initiatives.
“At Maki.vc, we back deep-tech companies that redefine industries, and Lightsonic’s approach to fibre optic sensing is a game-changer for critical infrastructure monitoring. We are excited to support their journey in bringing this technology to the global market,” said Paavo Räisänen, Partner at Maki.vc.
RAISEVentures echoed this enthusiasm, highlighting the impact of Lightsonic’s solutions on sustainability and security. “The pressure on infrastructure is higher than ever, and the need for Lightsonic’s scalable technology has never been more apparent. Their proactive monitoring of large networks, like water, gas, and cable, can significantly reduce environmental impact and operational risks. We are thrilled to back an incredible team redefining resilient infrastructure,” said Nicolas Chow, Principal at RAISEVentures.
Kjetil Holmefjord from Sondo emphasised the scalability of Lightsonic’s solutions, stating, “Lightsonic’s fibre optic sensing technology has the potential to revolutionise how we safeguard critical assets. Their team has the expertise and vision to make a lasting impact, and we are proud to support them at this early stage.”
With pressing regulations, growing investor confidence, and established technology, Lightsonic is poised to transform how communities protect their essential systems, heralding a new era of intelligent infrastructure management.
