SOUTHERN EUROPEAN CLUSTER IN PHOTONICS & OPTICS ASSOCIACION

Their core work

SECPhO is a photonics industry cluster based in Terrassa, Spain, that connects SMEs, startups, and research groups working in optics and photonics across Southern Europe. They provide innovation support services — including market access guidance, cross-sector matchmaking, and workforce development — to help photonics companies grow and reach new markets. Their work spans from organizing regional innovation audits and roadshows to facilitating digital transformation in sectors like health, manufacturing, and security through photonics-based solutions.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In their earlier H2020 projects (2016–2018), SECPhO focused on building the photonics innovation ecosystem itself — running innovation audits, value chain analyses, roadshows, and connecting regional clusters across sectors like manufacturing, transport, and energy. From 2018 onward, their focus shifted toward concrete applications (laser manufacturing, digital health, biosensing) and people (career development, entrepreneurship, gender empowerment). This evolution shows a cluster that matured from infrastructure-building to delivering tangible technology transfer and talent pipeline services.

SECPhO is moving from pure ecosystem coordination toward sector-specific applications (health, manufacturing) and workforce readiness, making them increasingly valuable as a bridge between photonics research and market deployment.

How they like to work

SECPhO always participates as a partner rather than a coordinator, which is typical for cluster organizations that bring ecosystem access and SME networks rather than leading technical research. With 47 unique partners across 17 countries from just 6 projects, they operate in broad, diverse consortia — averaging nearly 8 unique partners per project. This wide network and connector role means partnering with SECPhO gives you access to their extensive SME membership base and regional photonics ecosystem.

SECPhO has built a wide collaborative network of 47 partners across 17 countries, reflecting their role as a pan-European photonics connector despite their Southern European base. Their geographic reach spans well beyond Iberia into Central and Northern Europe.

What sets them apart

SECPhO occupies a specific niche as one of the few photonics-focused cluster organizations in Southern Europe, giving them a gateway role for any consortium wanting to reach the Spanish and Mediterranean photonics SME ecosystem. Unlike research institutes, they don't do the science themselves — they accelerate its path to market through innovation services, matchmaking, and talent programs. For consortium builders, they offer something hard to find elsewhere: organized access to a community of photonics SMEs with ready-made support infrastructure.

Highlights from their portfolio

• CUSTODIAN
  Their largest project (EUR 205K) and the most technically specific — customized photonic devices for defect-free laser manufacturing, showing SECPhO can contribute to deep-tech industrial projects beyond just ecosystem coordination.
• DIGI-B-CUBE
  Demonstrates SECPhO's ability to bridge photonics into the health sector through bioimaging, biosensing, and biobanking — a strong cross-sector capability signal.
• CARLA
  Their most recent project, focused on photonics career pathways and gender empowerment, signaling a strategic move into workforce development that complements their technology support role.