TAU Systems manufactures compact laser-plasma particle accelerators that use high-intensity ultrashort laser pulses to accelerate electrons to high energies within centimeters of plasma. These accelerators drive specialized X-ray free-electron lasers for X-ray lithography in semiconductor manufacturing and radiation testing for space-bound electronics, with the first commercial customer from a major satellite manufacturer. Applications also include defense electronics testing and healthcare imaging modalities. The company achieved a 10 GeV electron beam in 10 cm with the University of Texas in 2023 and demonstrated stable electron beam production in 2025 using a 100 Hz Thales laser system. Co-founded in 2021 by Björn Manuel Hegelich (associate professor at University of Texas at Austin, ex-Los Alamos National Laboratory) and Lukasz Gadowski (chairman); Jerome Paye is CEO and Stephen V. Milton is VP of accelerator science.<grok:render type="render_inline_citation"><argument name="citation_id">62</argument></grok:render><grok:render type="render_inline_citation"><argument name="citation_id">64</argument></grok:render><grok:render type="render_inline_citation"><argument name="citation_id">76</argument></grok:render> In 2025 it raised $20M extended seed led by Quantonation with Team Global, Alumni Ventures, Impact Ventures, UT Seed Fund, and private investors, totaling $35M to build TAU Labs in Carlsbad, California.<grok:render type="render_inline_citation"><argument name="citation_id">61</argument></grok:render> Headquarters are in Austin, Texas, with R&D sites there and in Carlsbad, California.<grok:render type="render_inline_citation"><argument name="citation_id">63</argument></grok:render>