ESA BIC Northern Germany ALUMNUS: Coher Sense 

Welcome to the ESA BIC Northern Germany Alumni Series, where we showcase the remarkable journeys and experiences of our alumni startups. As prospective incubatees explore the possibilities within the ESA Business Incubation Centre  Northern Germany, this series offers a firsthand glimpse into the transformative impact of our incubation program. Each instalment of the Alumni Series provides a unique opportunity to delve into the stories of startups like Coher Sense who have thrived within the ESA BIC ecosystem. Through the interviews, alumni share insights, lessons learned, and the support received during their time in the programme. 

Today we talked to Dr Oliver Lischtschenko, Founder and CEO of Coher Sense. May their journey inspire you to join the ESA BIC startup community! 

1. Tell us a bit about Coher Sense and what you do? 

Coher Sense was founded in 2022 and we are based in Lübeck. We build sensors for very accurately measuring lasers.  

Measuring lasers is just as complicated as it sounds; it typically requires multiple devices, careful calibration, and very specialised knowledge—usually a PhD in engineering or physics—to get it right. My team and I were convinced this complexity had to stop. We wanted to enable anyone who can operate basic electronic test equipment to characterise lasers easily. Our aim is to make photonics, laser technology, and everything associated with it, as accessible to people as electronics are today. 

2. Tell us about your team! 

I knew most of the people I started my company with privately. In the founding team, I consider all of us friends. Patrick Schmidt-Kaeding, our technical officer, and I worked together years ago, and he brings deep technical expertise. Mathias Groß, whom I met after playing soccer together, became our commercial expert because of his experience in growing businesses. Then, Katarzyna Szykuła-Meurs joined as our science officer to bring analytical structure and scientific insights. We also hired our first full-time employee, Angel, as an optical engineer, who significantly advanced our product development. Later, another Matthias, a highly experienced retired electronics engineer with more than 400 patents, joined our team part-time, adding incredible practical skills. We have benefited greatly from our networks, personal reputations, and the diverse strengths each member brings. 

3. How did you come to know about the ESA BIC Northern Germany business incubation programme and what motivated you to apply? 

We didn’t initially know about ESA BIC Northern Germany. During a presentation, someone from Gateway49 suggested our technology might be relevant for space applications, specifically aerospace, and then the ESA BIC actually approached us. Once we learned about ESA BIC, it connected deeply with our inner desire to innovate and explore. Space is the ultimate frontier—it appeals strongly to the innovator’s drive to go beyond what’s known. ESA BIC represented both: a challenge and an opportunity to take our technology into this new and exciting realm.  

We’re also all technical people and I think there is this moment that we all had in our lives where we looked at these enterprises like ‘Star Wars’ and we were like, wow, that would be so cool to do something in space, right? Space is space. It’s the ultimate motivation – it appeals to us so much. 

4. During your time as one of the incubatees, what are some highlights or goals that you’ve achieved? 

Qualifying for the ESA BIC programme itself was a major highlight for us—it meant someone at the European level recognised our work and believed it was meaningful. Another significant milestone was successfully designing completely new electronics that drastically improved our sensor’s performance, enabling us to deliver data at a much higher quality. From the performance values it’s on the other side of Mars compared to what we had before. That was really an achievement. It’s about designing and fundamentally testing your product. It’s about making sure people have all these little pieces in place that actually make it work so that at the end of the incubation phase, we really had something where we could say it is now delivering data at a much better quality.  

 Through the ESA BIC programme, we also significantly expanded our network, received invitations to key industry events such as the Space Meetings in Venice, and made valuable connections. Importantly, near the end of our incubation, we found a key partner who understood our disruptive technology, and this validation alone was worth the challenges we overcame during the incubation period. 

Coher Sense Multimeter for Lasers. Photo credit: Coher Sense ©2025

5. What is your advice for aspiring entrepreneurs and young startups? 

In the words of Nike: Just do it. If you really believe in something and truly want to change things, never stop following your heart. But also—don’t love your idea so much that you stop listening. Always remain open to feedback from others who have more experience in your niche or market. Money and funding are often viewed as barriers, but in reality, they are just concepts. If your idea is truly good, you’ll always find a way to move forward. Ultimately, it’s important to have purpose. When you look back years from now, you’ll want to know you tried—that you believed in your idea and went for it. That’s something you’ll never regret. 

6. In one sentence, how would you describe Coher Sense?  

Our mission is simple: we want to make photonics and laser technology as accessible as electronics are today. 

To learn more about Coher Sense:
Website                  LinkedIn

ESA BIC Northern Germany is ready for your ideas: 

As you embark on your entrepreneurial voyage, we invite you to discover the diverse paths taken by our ESA BIC Northern Germany alumni, from inception to exit. Their experiences serve as inspiration, illuminating the possibilities that await within the vibrant community of ESA BIC Northern Germany. Join us on this journey as we celebrate innovation, collaboration, and the boundless potential of space-tech startups. Together, we shape the future of entrepreneurship and technological advancement, one success story at a time. 

About ESA BIC Northern Germany 

The Incubation Centre of the European Space Agency in Northern Germany (ESA BIC Northern Germany) is headquartered jointly with the Bremen aeronautics and space industries association at the Bremer Innovations- und Technologiezentrum BITZ as well as the Digihub Industry – two of the largest innovation and technology centres for high-tech companies and startups in the German federal state of Bremen. The ESA BIC Northern Germany brings new startup opportunities to the region and thus strengthens the aeronautics and space sector in the German federal state of Bremen. AVIASPACE BREMEN e.V. supports the incubatees with its network, public relations work and targeted coaching not only during the incubation period, but also afterwards as alumni. STARTHAUS Bremen & Bremerhaven is the central point of contact in the Bremen startup ecosystem and supports the startups on all issues relating to business development and financing. The ESA BIC Northern Germany is managed by Anwendungszentrum GmbH Oberpfaffenhofen (AZO), an international networking and branding company for the European space programmes that also manages ESA BIC Bavaria with three locations in southern Germany. 

Since 2021, ESA BIC Northern Germany has also been offering its service to space-related startups in Schleswig-Holstein. The Technikzentrum Lübeck with GATEWAY49, AviaSpace Bremen and AZO jointly operate this extension of ESA BIC Northern Germany. As of June 2024, ESA BIC Northern Germany also offers its services to space-related startups in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The Innovation Port Wismar with AviaSpace Bremen and AZO jointly operate this extension of ESA BIC Northern Germany. There are also plans to extend ESA BIC Northern Germany to the northern German federal states of Hamburg, Lower Saxony, and Berlin-Brandenburg.

Technical support of the ESA BIC Northern Germany, is offered by Fraunhofer IFAM, German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence DFKI, DLR-RY Institute for Space Systems, Alfred-Wegener Institute for Polar Research AWI, Universities in the State of Bremen including many institutes such as IUP Institute for Environmental Physics, Center of Applied Space Technology and Microgravity ZARM, TH Lübeck, University Lübeck,  Life Science Nord, Airbus Group, ArianeGroup, AES Aircraft Elektro/Elektronik System, Dräger, DSI Aerospace, Possehl, and OHB.