Octopus Ventures led the seed financing round, which included participation from Deeptech Labs and Cambridge Enterprise.
"Construction is one of the world economy’s largest sectors, worth £7 trillion. McKinsey estimates that if the productivity levels were to catch up with the progress made by other sectors over the past 20 years or with the total economy, it could increase the industry’s value added by £1.2 trillion a year. We’re delighted to be backing such a formidable founder who is taking on a giant industry and we’re excited by BKwai because it is giving the industry the tools it needs to meet its potential. Not only is it helping companies optimise their builds and assets, it is also moving the industry to more green, sustainable practices that have long-term impact."
The funding round was led by Speedinvest to support the development of novel micro-LED production methods.
"It’s an entirely new engineered GaN material platform to build semiconductor devices on. It offers performance improvements that are suitable for mass production, scalable in wafer size – and crucial for the next generation of microdisplay devices such as AR glasses."
The University of Cambridge spinout has raised £1.5m from backers including Cambridge Enterprise and Crowdcube.
"Having the ability to surface internal knowledge blended with external sources is now a major priority for large organisations that employ thousands of staff using multiple platforms to store their data, information and knowledge."
Cambridge Enterprise led the seed financing, which includes backing from Parkwalk, New Grounds, and R42 Group.
"Many researchers would like to get molecular binding data more conveniently and more frequently to guide them through a drug development project. HexagonFab aims to address this need with the Bolt. This investment will enable us to bring our game-changing product to the market. We look forward to the months ahead working closely with our lead customers,"
— Christoph von Bieberstein, Founder and Commercial Director
