While still working for the Joanneum Research institute, our four founders solved the big problem of the Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB). With our handheld measurement device, it was possible to evaluate railway vehicle wheel wear without error-prone physical contact for the first time.

The idea of CALIPRI – the evolution of the English word "caliper" (or sliding gage), which flies around the wheel profile like a "Kolibri", the German word for a humming bird – impressed the jury at the Styrian Business Promotion Agency (SFG) at the Fast Forward Awards and resulted in the start-up capital for the spin-off company.

Quality is mandatory. That is why we became ISO 9001 certified early on. In this year, we also sold the first CALIPRI as an independent company – to ÖBB TS. In fact, the profit was immediately put towards a coffee machine – which works to this day.

After a press release, the first automotive manufacturer recognized the diverse applications of our technology. Since then, a CALIPRI device for gap measurements has improved the appearance and background noise of the chassis produced by Magna Steyr in Graz.

A difficult year for us. Years of investing in our technology have left their mark. But there is light at the end of the tunnel: At the leading international trade fair for railway technology, InnoTrans 2010, the interest in our products was so high that we almost had problems keeping up with deliveries.

This year we broke even for the first time and were delighted to receive the order for the first stationary CALIPRI gap measuring system. For the premium automotive manufacturer Daimler, exact gap measurements were an important mark of quality even then.

We have really earned it. After years of working in a confined space, we moved into our own office building this year. We duly celebrated with our customers, longstanding partners and, of course, our families.

This year was characterized by internationalization and growth. On top of signing a global master agreement with a large German premium automotive manufacturer, we sold our 500th CALIPRI system to the remaining so far untouched continent.

It was an honor for us. The Austrian Federal Economic Chamber honored our export efforts even in difficult markets at the Export Award celebration in the MuseumsQuartier Wien in Vienna. In this year, we also presented a system for inspecting the surface finish of steel profiles while they are still red hot.

More and more inquiries from foreign countries led to the expansion of our international sales partner network. For our automotive customers, we especially benefited from the worldwide partnership with ASI Datamyte. In addition, we celebrated the world debut of the first portable profile measurement device for steel profiles.

Wow! We were the only Austrian company to be awarded funding from the European Union Horizon 2020 program. With this boost, we founded our first branch office (Atlanta, USA) and presented the first wireless profile measurement device from NEXTSENSE to the world.

From four to 70 in 10 years. We celebrated our 10th anniversary with our 70 employees, a big cake and in good spirits. But what will the future hold? Drones that measure railway vehicle wheels? A cashless CALIPRI supermarket? Let's wait and see!

After a long search for a perfect fit, we found the perfect partner to accelerate our grow. In March 2018 Nextsense has been acquired by Hexagon AB, a leading global provider of information technologies that drive productivity and quality across industries. This consolidation will support our vision to become global leader in mobile optical profile measurement solutions.