K3Metrology

Advanced manufacturing industries such as aerospace depend on the ability to measure large and complex components with extreme precision. Yet traditional measurement processes are often slow, labour-intensive and disruptive, requiring production to stop while specialist inspections and repeated calibration checks take place.

These interruptions can add significant time and cost to manufacturing programmes, while placing increasing pressure on highly skilled engineering teams.

K3Metrology is addressing this challenge with a new generation of large-scale measurement technology designed to transform how complex structures are built and assembled. Spun out from the National Physical Laboratory (NPL), the company is enabling manufacturers to carry out real-time measurement during the production process itself, improving efficiency, reducing delays and supporting the shift toward smarter manufacturing environments.

With support from UKI2S and its co-investors, K3Metrology is advancing nationally important measurement science into commercial deployment across high-value manufacturing sectors.

K3Metrology has developed a large-scale metrology platform capable of measuring multiple points simultaneously and continuously, in real time, while components are being assembled.

Unlike conventional measurement approaches, which rely on stop-start inspections using specialist equipment – K3Metrology’s technology integrates directly into the build process. This allows manufacturers to detect alignment issues immediately, rather than identifying errors later when rework becomes significantly more costly and time-consuming.

By embedding measurement into live manufacturing environments, the technology reduces production downtime, improves the use of skilled labour and supports greater automation across digitally enabled factories.

The platform has been developed through research at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL), the UK’s national metrology institute, and refined in collaboration with industrial partners across aerospace and advanced manufacturing.

As manufacturers increasingly seek technologies that improve productivity and reduce waste, K3Metrology is helping enable a new generation of smart factory capability.

£2.75 million

seed funding secured

£750,000

UKI2S investment

Largest Knowledge Assets cheque to date

from the UKI2S portfolio

This investment supports the expansion of K3Metrology’s engineering team, accelerates industrial trials and enables early commercial deployment within advanced manufacturing environments.

Mike Campbell, CEO, K3Metrology said:

“We are excited to secure this investment and to have the support of investors who understand both the technical challenge and the industrial opportunity. This funding gives us the platform to scale a technology born from the National Physical Laboratory and apply it directly to some of the most demanding manufacturing environments.

This investment enables us to move faster, work more closely with industry and deliver a step-change in how large, complex structures are measured and built.”

Sakura Holloway, Investment Lead, Knowledge Assets at the UK Innovation & Science Seed Fund (UKI2S), managed by Future Planet Capital said:

“We are backing K3Metrology with our largest Knowledge Assets cheque to date because we have high conviction in the founders, the technology and the solution it offers to the relevant high-value sectors. This is exactly the kind of company the UKI2S Knowledge Assets portfolio was created to support.”

UK Innovation & Science Seed Fund (UKI2S), managed by Future Planet Capital, is proud to support K3Metrology as it translates nationally important measurement science into commercially deployable industrial technology.

As lead investor in the company’s £2.75 million seed round, and through the largest cheque from the UKI2S Knowledge Assets portfolio to date, UKI2S has played a central role in helping shape the company from publicly funded research into an investable business with strong industrial potential.

This investment reflects UKI2S’s commitment to supporting companies emerging from the UK’s public sector knowledge base, helping them move from breakthrough science to scalable technologies capable of strengthening industrial productivity and delivering long-term economic impact.
The future of advanced manufacturing depends on smarter, more connected and more efficient production environments. Technologies that reduce downtime, improve precision and enable greater automation will play a critical role in strengthening industrial competitiveness globally.
K3Metrology is helping drive that transition. By bringing advanced metrology into the production process itself, the company is redefining how large-scale manufacturing environments operate.

With strong technical foundations, industrial collaboration and the backing of UKI2S and its investment partners, K3Metrology is positioning the UK at the forefront of next-generation manufacturing innovation.

Get your innovation off the ground

Check to see if you are eligible for UKI2S funding

Introduction

The Science

UKI2S Impact

£2.75 million

£750,000

Largest Knowledge Assets cheque to date

Mike Campbell, CEO, K3Metrology said:

Sakura Holloway, Investment Lead, Knowledge Assets at the UK Innovation & Science Seed Fund (UKI2S), managed by Future Planet Capital said:

Get your innovation off the ground

Stay updated