The round was co-led by Clean Growth Fund and Foresight WAE Technology to support the commercialisation of semiconductor lasers.
"We are excited to be partnering with the Vector team as they pioneer a major revolution in laser technology. Lasers are ubiquitous, and we recognise the significant carbon savings that PCSELs can deliver by increasing energy efficiency across many applications. These efficiency savings are initially targeted at the large and growing emissions problem of datacentres, but the opportunity to deliver emissions savings is much wider. Clean Growth Fund was established to invest in the very best clean tech innovators across the UK and so we are delighted that Vector Photonics is our first investment in Scotland. The team combines world-leading technical and commercial expertise and we are excited to support one of the leading innovators in Scotland’s photonics ecosystem to address the climate crisis."
The Series A round was led by Oxford Science Enterprises and Braavos Investment Advisers to support company expansion.
"Through its unique approach, developed by some of the world’s best minds in the quantum space, Oxford Ionics is laying the foundations to finally make quantum computing a scalable, integrable and viable option. Building on more than a decade at the forefront of this sector, Chris, Tom and the team have been able to demonstrate, time and again, that their work in the lab can, and will, extend to the real world and we’re thrilled to be joining them on this journey."
The financing round was backed by investors including British Patient Capital and In-Q-Tel to support expansion plans.
"Pragmatic is another great example of a UK company which has developed and commercialised world-leading technology from a UK base. We are delighted to be investing in the further growth of this homegrown semiconductor manufacturing business via Future Fund: Breakthrough, our dedicated deeptech fund which is investing in some of the country's most innovative and dynamic businesses."
The Series B financing was led by Parkwalk Advisors and BGF to support the commercial scale-up of power transistors.
"CGD is poised to become one of the leaders in enabling a sustainable world. As we move to a net-zero carbon society with rapidly increasing levels of electrification, we need clean, renewable sources of electricity and more efficient conversion methods. GaN provides the optimum conversion solution, reducing power losses by more than 50% and increasing energy conversion efficiency to above 99%. To take just one application example, if all data centres were to adopt GaN, this would save 12.4TWh of electricity per year, or 9 million tons of CO2 – the equivalent of taking 1.9 million internal combustion engines vehicles off the road for a year *. Our ICeGaN™ GaN transistors – which are now in the hands of customers at scale – are amongst the most efficient devices of their type on the market. Our devices are also the easiest for designers to use."
