# sensiBel

> sensiBel is a Norwegian semiconductor company that makes optical MEMS microphones - tiny chip-scale devices that use a laser and photodetector to sense a diaphragm's motion instead of the electrical (capacitive) method used in almost every microphone for the past century. Its flagship SBM100B is billed as the world's first production optical MEMS microphone, delivering studio-grade specs (80 dBA SNR, 146 dB acoustic overload point, 132 dB dynamic range) in a package small enough for earbuds, laptops and microphone arrays. Spun out of Norwegian research institute SINTEF in 2017, sensiBel sells to audio, consumer-electronics and pro-audio manufacturers and counts Sennheiser among its investors.

- **Founded:** 2017
- **Headquarters:** Oslo, Norway
- **Founders:** Matthieu Lacolle (Co-founder & CTO), Jakob Vennerod (Co-founder)
- **Team size:** About 38 employees
- **Products:** SBM100B, SBM100, AURORA and POLARIS Evaluation Kits
- **Notable:** Launched the SBM100B, described as the world's first production optical MEMS microphone., Won the EDN Electronic Products 2025 Product of the Year Award for the SBM100B., Received Best of CES recognition for its optical MEMS microphone.

## Products & services

- **SBM100B** — The world's first production optical MEMS microphone. Uses interferometry-based optical sensing (a laser and photodetector reading diaphragm motion) to deliver 80 dBA SNR, a 146 dB SPL acoustic overload point and a 132 dB dynamic range with 24-bit output and I2S/PDM/TDM interfaces.
- **SBM100** — The original ultra-low-noise optical MEMS microphone platform, sampled from 2022, featuring 80 dBA SNR, high acoustic overload point and low total harmonic distortion in a compact digital-output package.
- **AURORA and POLARIS Evaluation Kits** — Evaluation solutions that let engineers quickly prototype and test the SBM100B in target applications such as conferencing, wearables and microphone arrays.

## Achievements

- Launched the SBM100B, described as the world's first production optical MEMS microphone.
- Won the EDN Electronic Products 2025 Product of the Year Award for the SBM100B.
- Received Best of CES recognition for its optical MEMS microphone.
- Achieved industry-leading 80 dBA SNR, 146 dB SPL acoustic overload point and 132 dB dynamic range in a MEMS package.
- Secured a strategic investment from professional-audio leader Sennheiser.
- Engaged Silex Microsystems, the world's largest pure-play MEMS foundry, for high-volume production.

## Latest updates

- **2026-05** — Announced Silex Microsystems as high-volume MEMS foundry partner for the SBM100B microphone element.
- **2026-05** — mh acoustics integrated the SBM100B into its em64d Eigenmike ambisonics microphone array.
- **2026-02** — SBM100B won the EDN Electronic Products 2025 Product of the Year Award.
- **2025-12** — Introduced AURORA and POLARIS evaluation kits to accelerate design-in of the optical MEMS microphone.
- **2025-11** — Appointed Jason LaPointe as Chief Operating Officer.
- **2025-09** — Appointed Kieran Harney as CEO, succeeding Sverre Dale Moen.
- **2025-06** — Launched the SBM100B commercially and named AAC Technologies as assembly and test partner.

## Links

- Website: https://sensibel.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sensibel
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/sensibeltech

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/sensibel
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Last updated: 2026-07-18