CamGraPhIC has raised £1.26 million through an equity funding round from existing and new investors to develop and scale up its graphene-based photonics technology for use in high-speed data and telecommunications networks.
Sir Michael Rake, the former chair of BT Group, is an investor in CamGraPhIC and will be joining its board of directors by the end of the year at a date to be agreed. He is currently advising the company on an informal basis.
The new funding is being raised through an Advanced Subscription Agreement, meaning shares will be issued at a later date, either as part of a future funding round or converted into equity. CamGraPhIC’s valuation remains at the £7.2 million set at the time of the last funding round in September 2021, when the company raised £1.6 million. Frontier IP led the funding round with investment platform Wealth Club, whose clients invested £813,475.
CamGraPhIC is developing graphene-based photonics technology for scalable, faster, and cheaper optical transceivers, devices at the heart of high-speed data and telecommunications networks. We have the potential to become a core enabling technology for next-generation 5G networks and beyond. The transceivers are also more energy efficient, meaning they are not only cheaper to buy but also cheaper to run. Other applications will include 6G mmWave, High Performance Computing, and AI networks.
Progress to date has been highly encouraging. Current versions of the technology have indicated speeds of up to 100Gbps per lane and operation across multiple wavebands. Their speed is about twice that achieved in laboratory conditions by equivalent technologies, while it is projected that they consume 70 per cent less energy.
Proceeds from the funding round will be used to complete fabrication and testing of the demonstration devices. The technology has attracted interest from major multinationals in the semiconductor and telecommunications sectors. Customer testing is expected to begin in September.
Sir Michael is Chair of Wireless Logic Group, Chair of Ola UK, Chair of Phoenix Global Resources, Majid Al Futtaim Holdings, Newday Group UK, and is also a Senior Advisor for Citi Group.
His previous roles, in addition to chairing BT Group, include Chair of Worldplay Group, EasyJet and President of the Confederation of British Industry. He was also a member of the Prime Minister’s Business Advisory Group, Deputy Chair of Barclays, and a director of S&P Global.
CamGraPhIC’s underlying graphene-photonics technology, which has a host of further applications, is being developed under licence from the University of Cambridge.
Click here to learn more about Optical Transceivers from CamGraPhIC.
