AkknaTek and the EIC Accelerator: Cataract Tech Into Insolvency

AkknaTek, a Kaiserslautern start-up founded and run by Edgar Janunts, developed optical imaging to check the position of artificial lenses implanted during cataract surgery. Its EIC project promised three modules: pre-operative screening to pick the right lens, image guidance during surgery, and a post-operative system to measure the lens position and help surgeons re-align it, "for the first time guaranteeing best possible results for every lens implanted", according to CORDIS.

The European Innovation Council granted €2,289,875 towards a €3.27 million project from May 2023 to April 2025. The final report is three short paragraphs: it says AkknaTek was running a multicentre clinical study on how lens position affects vision, and gives no results. On 28 July 2025, three months after the project ended, the Kaiserslautern local court appointed a provisional insolvency administrator (case 1 IN 134/25). A financing extension that had already been promised "was withdrawn at short notice", the administrator's law firm, Schultze & Braun, said in a statement.

Where AkknaTek Stands Now

The provisional administrator and the founder launched an international search for an investor in September 2025, saying the company could only survive long term if an investor came in. The commercial register recorded AkknaTek in liquidation on 6 October 2025, according to North Data. Court notices in the case were still being published in May and June 2026, InsolvenzIndex shows. No investor rescue has been announced. The company's website still invites clinics to request a demo; its latest news item is from April 2025.

The Technology: Checking the Lens Inside the Eye

Advanced intraocular lenses can free patients from glasses, but they must sit precisely; tilt and decentration are often underestimated because there is no standard way to measure them, AkknaTek says. Its Lens Reviewer uses contactless infrared imaging of reflections from the cornea and lens surfaces to calculate the lens's 3D position within one second, the administrator's statement says. The device had European market approval, was in a study-based trial phase and was going through US approval when the company filed for insolvency.

What the EIC Project Promised, and What CORDIS Shows

The project promised a three-part system covering the whole operation. The public record shows one part, the post-operative Lens Reviewer, as a product. The final report does not mention the screening or surgical guidance modules, gives no clinical results and does not state how many devices were placed. CORDIS lists the project as closed.

1. Post-operative deviceDeliveredLens Reviewer, EU approval.
2. Screening and guidance modulesUnverifiedNot in report.
3. Multicentre clinical studyRunningNo results published.
4. Market launchMissedAdministrator appointed before sales.

The Money

AkknaTek received €500,000 of Covid-19 state aid in 2020 and an investment from Luminate, a New York optics accelerator, the same year, according to North Data and the company's news page. Its shareholders include S-Innovations-Beteiligungsfinanzierungsgesellschaft Rheinland-Pfalz (S-IFG). The withdrawn financing extension left it without the means "to start sales under its own steam", the administrator's statement says. Who withdrew it, and whether the EIC Fund invested under the blended award, is not public.

What Cannot Be Checked

Why Europe Should Care

Cataract surgery is one of the most common operations in the world. The EIC paid for a European device to make lens implants more accurate. According to the administrator's law firm, a promised financing extension was withdrawn, leaving the company without the means to start sales under its own steam, and the device has not reached the market.

The Verdict

AkknaTek, its insolvency administrator and the EIC have not been asked for comment for this article. It is based entirely on public records and published statements, linked throughout.