About us

BRAVE is courageous.

We dare to do things differently, forge new pathways and find solutions for scientific challenges.

BRAVE is enthusiastic.

We help our customers master their particle challenges and are excited to see what they will discover with OF2i.

BRAVE is dedicated.

Each day we want to be better than the day before, keep improving our products and deepening our knowledge.

BRAVE is innovative.

We love to think outside the box. We want to create something extraordinary and share it with the world.

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What's the news?

The paper "Theoretical description of optofluidic force induction" by Šimić et al was published in Physical Review Applied, March 13, 2023

BRAVE Analytics has joined the MOZART EU project which is researching matrix nanocomposite coatings as an alternative to using hard chromium.

The paper "Real-Time Nanoparticle Characterization Through Optofluidic Force Induction" by Šimić et al was published in Phys. Rev. Applied, August 19, 2022

BRAVE Analytics will take part at the "BioNanoMed exhibition", Graz, Austria, April 12 to 14, 2023

The OF2i principle was showcased in "The Analytical Scientist Particle Analysis Special", February 27, 2023

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Brave people make the world go round

At BRAVE Analytics we feel the innate pull towards discoveries and love to look at things from a completely new angle whenever possible. Being “brave” is far more than our business philosophy or just a part of our brand name, it is our fuel. Each day it helps us to grow beyond ourselves, to do better than yesterday and to find new ways to work that people typically do not consider. This courage unites us in our quest for groundbreaking discoveries and boosts our team spirit. And it will be our driving force in the future as well.
As a brave company, standing still does not suit us very well. When a problem is solved or a challenge is mastered, we are already looking to tackle the next hurdle. We believe that there is a solution for every problem, it just needs to be discovered by innovative people. As a team we do not shy away from a challenge, instead we move ahead to embrace problems with hope and excitement. When we make our next discovery, we just hope we don’t forget to grab a towel before sprinting across the Med Uni campus screaming “Eureka!”.

EVEN THE BRAVEST WON'T SUCCEED ALONE.

A BRAVE league of legends

Christian Hill

CEO | CTO

Christian is one of the founders of BRAVE Analytics, along with Gerhard Prossliner. He is a biophysicist and CEO and CTO of the company.

Gerhard Prossliner

COO | CFO

Gerhard is one of the founders of BRAVE Analytics, along with Christian Hill. He is a medical engineer and COO and CFO of the company.

Doris Auer

Lab & Application

Doris is a registered pharmacist. As the application specialist and laboratory technician she is responsible for measuring samples, evaluating results and creating measuring reports. She also works on the accounts.

Michael Peinhopf

Software & IT

Michael is the senior software engineer and a full-stack developer. He develops the framework for process control, firmware, GUI and interface design for the H.A.N.S. and R.U.T.H. software.

Nikola Šimić

Physics & Algorithms

Nikola is a theoretical physicist who designs, implements, verifies and validates physical and mathematical models for the OF2i method.

Alexander Leljak

Design & Engineering

Alexander designs custom optomechanical, mechanical and fluidic parts, creates the complete 3-dimensional models of all BRAVE Analytics products including constructional drawings and manufacturing interface.

Sarah Knights

Marketing & Communications

Sarah takes care of our press relations and social media presence. She also creates content for the webpage, print products and other communication channels.

Thomas Gruber

Testing and Mechatronics

Thomas is responsible for designing and producing electronic components, creating test and measuring routines, hardware programming, technical purchasing, and producing and optimizing assemblies.

Michael Schnur

Fluidics, Mechanics & QM

Michael is an industrial and mechanical engineer with profound know-how in meso- and microfluidics, dilution systems, sensors and testing procedures. He designed, implemented and verified the dilution system for BRAVE B-Continuous.

Christian Neuper

Physics & Optical Engineering

Christian is working on his PhD thesis and for BRAVE Analytics. He is focused on the development, calibration and technical setup of dynamic Raman measurements in the nanometer range as a modular extension of OF2i.

Magdalena Schneidhofer

Project & Events

Lena has a vast marketing background. For BRAVE Analytics she organizes events, produces films and finds solutions for organizational challenges.

Magdaline Okumu-Hartwig

Team Assistant

Maggy runs the office, implements the new inventory system and monitors incoming goods from suppliers. She also organizes business trips and is involved in human resources planning and accounting.

Vitan Strasser

Product & Sales

On a typical day, Vitan leads and coordinates the BRAVE sales activities. Over the next few months, however, he will be on educational leave.

Raphael Hauer

Physics & Modeling

Raphael is working at BRAVE Analytics and on his PhD. He is extending the OF2i method for use on ultra-low concentrated particles with a focus on applications in the pharmaceutical industry.

The story of the BRAVE

How it all started

Sometimes you must turn the state of the art on its head. This is what happened in 2013, when Christian Hill, a researcher at the Medical University of Graz, Austria, was considering the potential usage of optical forces, spin and the angular momentum of photons for particle characterization. He began to imagine a setup which could remove the constraints of Brownian motion so he could get a much better look at his particles and nanoparticles. What he did next was the first step on the road to a new particle characterization method.

One great idea & a team of clever people

Over the next five years, Christian and a small team of colleagues worked on a method of particle characterization which goes beyond Brownian motion. This became the OF2i principle, a method which combines photonic and microfluidic forces to actively set thousands of particles in motion simultaneously. The minimal photonic forces are sufficient to deflect and (de)accelerate small particles from their fluidic-induced motion, independent of their overlying Brownian motion. An ultramicroscope setup determines the actively altered particle trajectories and translates this information into characterization data. This provides the number-based size, size distributions and particle numbers (concentration) with single-particle sensitivity and a therefore delivers results which are statistically representative of the overall particle population. The measurements are orders of magnitude faster than the Brownian motion processes used in DLS or NTA.

“Aha” moments at the university & industrial interest

The joyful news spread quickly. Talking about the new method at conferences and joining the EU-funded NanoPAT project brought the OF2i method to the attention of a wider audience. In particular great interest was shown by a pharmaceutical concern looking for particle size measurement directly in their high-pressure homogenization processes. Besides working on this online, in-process solution, the BRAVE team registered the excitement shown by researchers and colleagues at the Medical University of Graz when they heard about OF2i. These researchers brought samples to test on the “beta” instrument and had their first “Aha” moments. A second BRAVE goal was formulated: to package the OF2i method in a benchtop laboratory device for research and development purposes.

Product launch & visionary ideas

Time flies when you’re developing measuring instruments and suddenly the first device is ready to be “out there” measuring particle size distribution and concentration in laboratories near and far. The laboratory device BRAVE B-Curious launched in March 2023 and the additional Raman analysis module will be ready at the end of 2024. Product release of the online BRAVE B-Continuous for particle measurement during production is also on track for the end of 2024. Currently a team of 15 brave pioneers is working on bringing everything together, documenting, testing, writing publications, and visiting conferences and exhibitions. The result is great excitement and the knowledge that it has been a long and bumpy road to creating an actual product. Our journey motivates us and has brought us lots of experience. Now we want to see how OF2i + Raman will revolutionize the way people analyze their particles and nanoparticles, how our customers will push the boundaries of our products and which groundbreaking discoveries they will make.

to be continued …

Discover the benefits of OF2i.

WORKING DAY AND NIGHT TO BRING OF2i to you.

Impressions from BRAVE HQ

You want to join the BRAVE team?

We are always happy to meet people with very specific professional experience in the fields of quality management, physics, pharmaceutical production, fluidics, optomechanics, micromechanics, mechatronics, mechanical engineering, IT, computer vision, business administration and finance.

Financing

Program: NanoPAT Process Analytical Technologies for Industrial Nanoparticle Production

Funded by the European Commission as part of the EU Horizon 2020 program.

Program: aws Seed – Financing & support of deep tech companies from the prototype stage to the market

BRAVE Analytics is funded by the Seed program of the BMDW and handled by the aws. Their support enables the development from prototype to market launch.

National funding agency for company-related research and development in Austria

Spin-off fellowship of the LightMatters project was made possible, in part, by funding from the FFG. A continuation of the cooperation is in preparation.