Calculus Capital, a leading EIS and VCT investor is set to invest £2.4 million as a cornerstone investor in a £6.6 million institutional and private investment round into Blu Wireless Technology (BWT). BWT is working on bringing ultra-fast millimeter Wave (mmWave) wireless technology into homes and businesses through the roll-out of Wi-Gig and 5G networks.
Calculus Capital’s investment supplements the recent funding round that included ARM, the UK semiconductor IP company that was acquired in 2016 by SoftBank. The investment will enable BWT to accelerate the design and development of its core wireless technologies.
Semiconductor manufacturers use Blu Wireless technology, alongside ARM processors, to build networking chips that allow for high bandwidth and low latency data transfer. These chips are then used in internet-enabled devices and data networks.
Blu Wireless technology already plays an important role in the creation and roll-out of the next generation of high-speed internet and wireless-enabled systems, ranging from virtual reality headsets and ultra-fast video streaming, through to 5G networks. They are also set to help pave the way for the advent of so-called ‘smart’ cities, in which the real-time collection and analysis of data from urban assets and infrastructure is undertaken to better and more efficiently manage those resources.
The company which has many of the world’s leading semiconductor and consumer electronics companies among its customers, will use Calculus’s investment to further grow its software design and development team and recruit additional sales and marketing resource to help expand the company’s client base.
Blu Wireless has an experienced executive team currently led by Henry Nurser. Its board includes Pete Magowan, former Executive Vice President of ARM, and its advisory board includes ARM’s founder CEO and former Chairman, Sir Robin Saxby. It was founded in 2009 and currently employs around 60 people in Bristol, as well as staff in sales offices in North America, China and Japan.
The backing from Calculus and other institutional and private investors, alongside that of ARM, will enable BWT to accelerate the development and wider roll-out of their ultra-fast mmWave wireless technologies and systems. These will ultimately be of great benefits, whether using a lightweight ultra HD virtual reality headset or requiring access to reliable high bandwidth internet on public transport.
