Every month, during a Coffee Break, we dive into the stories of EIC innovators and get a glimpse of the people behind EIC projects. Today’s guest is Francisco Cortés, CEO of SENSIA – a Madrid-based company building upon the bold vision of making invisible methane emissions visible. His words will reveal his conception of sustainability and how through the EIC GaSeS project, an SME Instrument Phase 2 project, coordinated by SENSIA, the company managed to position its technology as one of the top products for Infrared (IR) monitoring.
Lastly, do not miss the company’s most recent achievement: securing a key investment led by A&G Energy Transition Tech Fund and SETT (Sociedad Española para la Transformación Tecnológica), key to deepening its technological and industrial impact.
Starting off from the origins of SENSIA, what led you to the field of Optical Gas Imaging (OGI) in order to help mitigate harmful industrial emissions?
Methane – the primary component of natural gas – is a crucial energy resource, due to its lower CO₂ emissions per unit of energy. However, when leaked, methane becomes a highly potent greenhouse gas, with a global warming potential approximately 84 times greater than CO₂ in a 20-year period.
I am convinced that, if methane was visible to the human eye, both public pressure and operator accountability would be vastly greater, and emissions would be significantly lower. It is precisely that conviction which drove us to create RedLook: an intelligent infrared imaging solution that makes invisible emissions visible, measurable, and actionable.
However, at SENSIA, we also designed this technology with the industrial operator in mind: through it our clients can gain real-time visibility over their assets, becoming more efficient in leak response, more transparent in reporting, safer in their operations, and more aligned with sustainability goals.
This balance between climate impact and operational value has shaped our purpose from the beginning, and continues to drive everything we do.
The EIC-funded GaSeS project was established to overcome the shortcomings of the Optical Gas Imaging (OGI) technology. SENSIA’s RedLook technology is now positioned as one of the top products for Infrared (IR) Monitoring. In which way do you think the European Innovation Council grant enabled SENSIA to make such a progress?
The EIC’s support was transformative for SENSIA! It enabled us to take a decisive leap from advanced R&D into a fully industrialised, market-ready technology.
Not only did the EIC grant allow us to develop and train advanced AI models tailored for infrared data, but it also helped us in building a robust, industrial-grade Infrared Cameras and software platform and in validating our technology in demanding, real world environments. As a result, SENSIA is today the only European company offering proprietary intelligent infrared imaging systems for continuous industrial monitoring.
Beyond the technology itself, the EIC grant gave us visibility and trust at a European level, accelerating not only our product’s development, but also our access to key stakeholders, regulatory bodies, and large-scale industrial deployment.
In February 2025, SENSIA secured a key investment led by A&G Energy Transition Tech Fund and SETT (Sociedad Española para la Transformación Tecnológica). Following this new round of investment, what further developments are in the pipeline?
This latest investment marks a pivotal stage for SENSIA, not just in terms of scaling, but in deepening our technological and industrial impact. Over the past decade, we have deployed our technology in some of the world’s most critical industrial complexes, giving us a deep understanding of how essential industry is to economies and societies – both in developed and emerging countries.
Today, the industrial world is undergoing a historic transition towards a model that is more sustainable, autonomous, transparent, and efficient. In that context, the use of intelligent and reliable sensors becomes fundamental, and our roadmap is designed to meet those expectations with cutting-edge and proprietary solutions.
With the support of our new investors, we are scaling sensor production and investing in vertical integration — particularly in areas where Europe seeks technological sovereignty, such as infrared detectors and embedded AI computing. We are accelerating adoption of our RedLook technology, not only for emissions monitoring, but also for fire detection, asset protection, and safety in critical environments across Europe, the Middle East, and North America.
We are also building deeper integration with industrial digital infrastructures, enabling real-time quantification and digitally certified reporting. In parallel, we are developing a new generation of infrared photodetectors that will radically lower the cost and broaden the scope of IR imaging, opening new markets such as smart buildings and autonomous vehicles.
In 2023, SENSIA joined the OGCI’s Aiming For Zero Methane Emissions Initiative, a global movement aimed at reducing methane emissions to zero by 2030. Which is SENSIA’s commitment to a future with reduced methane emissions?
Our commitment in this regard is twofold: to continuously improve the performance and accessibility of monitoring solutions, and to work closely with operators, regulators, and initiatives like OGCI to accelerate the deployment of these technologies.
We believe emissions transparency and mitigation must be operational, not theoretical — and we are enabling that with reliable, autonomous Optical Gas Imaging (OGI).
Let’s conclude on a more personal note: remaining in the sustainability topic, is there any sustainable practice which you have embraced in your everyday life?
Yes! I try to live in a responsible and sustainable way, through simple habits that I can maintain over time.
I am lucky to live very close to work, so my daily commute has almost no carbon footprint. I also try to keep my material consumption low and to teach my children to be mindful about what they use and how they live.
For me, sustainability is not about making big sacrifices or spending a lot of money on things, like expensive electric cars; it is more about building simple, consistent habits that lead to a low-impact lifestyle. I believe small choices, done regularly, can make a real difference.
Additional information about SENSIA
Based in Madrid (Spain), SENSIA is dedicated to the development of groundbreaking, cutting-edge solutions based on intelligent infrared imaging technology for the energy, security and industrial sectors, striving for a greener, safer and more efficient world. Coordinating the EIC GaSeS project, supported by the SME Instrument (EIC Accelerator Pilot), SENSIA is empowering the oil and gas industry with cutting-edge monitoring technologies.
Find out more about SENSIA visiting the Horizon Europe database and the company official website.
DISCLAIMER: This information is provided in the interest of knowledge sharing and should not be interpreted as the official view of the European Commission, or any other organisation.