It is a city steeped in history and well-known for its jewelry-box or Jugenstil architecture, quaint cobblestone streets and friendly people. But the city of Riga, Latvia, also has a rich history in technology and innovation. From semiconductors and pharmaceuticals, to instrument building and automotive, Latvia is the technological heart pumping innovation to its European neighbors today, and for the past century.

This high-tech city is also home to GroGlass.

It was here in 1962 that the Vacuum Metallization Design Bureau Research (today, “A/s Sidrabe”) was established and became one of the main suppliers of specialty materials to the Soviet Aerospace and Defense Industry during the last two decades of the Soviet Union.

In the mid-1990s, Sidrabe was purchased by US-based New Century Holdings (NCH).  Since then, it has been a main supplier of commercial thin film deposition equipment for the world’s major manufacturers of flat panel displays, batteries, photovoltaic modules and other specialty products.

In 2004, GroGlass was established as a spin-off from Sidrabe when it ordered the world’s largest vertical double-sided magnetron sputter coater for flat glass. Since the equipment’s final acceptance and commissioning in 2009, GroGlass has developed into a major supplier of anti-reflective coatings to the Architectural, Technical, Picture Framing, Solar and Horticultural industries. GroGlass is fully owned by NCH (www.nchadvisors.com).