Nalu Scientific, LLC

Nalu Scientific, LLC, a small business based in Honolulu, Hawaii, develops advanced photon detection readout electronics, lidar systems, and waveform-digitizing application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) for federal research agencies as a prime contractor (88% of awards) and occasional subcontractor. The company operates under total small business set-asides across most contract work and received $17.8 million in obligated federal funding across 34 awards since 2016, though the combined potential value across active awards stands at $1.7 million.

Nalu Scientific's customer concentration centers on civilian research agencies. The Department of Energy Office of Science leads by award count with 15 awards (specific dollar figures not provided in this segment); the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Shared Services Center follows with 8 awards carrying $1.5 million in combined potential value; and the Department of Commerce National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Department of the Navy Naval Sea Systems Command, and the Office of Naval Research together account for 6 awards. These five agencies represent 85% of recent awards. The gap between award count and potential-value ranking reflects NASA's outsized leverage on the funding side — 8 NASA awards carry $1.5 million while 15 DOE awards carry unspecified but distributed value.

Nalu Scientific's recent prime contract work centers on SBIR Phase I and Phase II development. A $898,155 SBIR Phase II award from NASA's Shared Services Center (ultimate completion July 10, 2026) funded design and development of the Compact Digitizing LIDAR Receiver (CODLIR); a $159,424 SBIR Phase I award from NASA (August 3, 2023, completed February 2, 2024) preceded that work on the same receiver technology. The Air Force Research Laboratory issued a $139,677 purchase order (March 13, 2026) for low-swap readout electronics and modules for photon detection. An earlier $156,498 SBIR Phase I award from NASA's Shared Services Center (August 7, 2024) funded the Compact Standoff Biomolecular Observation System (COSMOS). On the grant side, the Department of Energy Office of Science awarded a $158,865 project grant (July 8, 2025, completing July 7, 2026) for waveform-based high-speed signal processing for enhanced readout (WHISPER); the National Institute of Mental Health and the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering jointly funded a long-running SYMPET project (Silicon Photomultiplier-based, time-of-flight PET readout microchip) running from September 2021 through August 2026 for brain imaging applications.

Activity accelerated sharply in 2024 (7 awards) from a baseline of one award per year in 2022 and 2023, with 3 awards in 2025 and 1 in 2026 year to date. Two awards (combined potential value $140,000) face completion within the next twenty-four months and thus recompete exposure. In its subcontractor role, Nalu Scientific supplies materials and services to the University of Hawaii on Naval Special Warfare Prototyping on Demand work and to Pacmar Technologies LLC on development of amphibious vehicles for unmanned surface mobility. The company operates one named parent vehicle, an indefinite delivery contract (N0002419D6400) carrying 2 task orders. Nalu Scientific's capability portfolio spans compact lidar receiver design, high-density digitizer systems, silicon photomultiplier readout electronics, time-of-flight PET imaging readout systems, and waveform-digitizing ASIC development for photon detection applications across space, defense, and biomedical imaging domains.