Fusion IP (AIM: FIP), the university commercialisation company which turns university research into business, is pleased to announce that Sheffield based company, Phase Focus, has successfully raised £3.2m in an equity based funding round, to accelerate revenue generation of its revolutionary nanotech imaging and microscopy technology – the Phase Focus Virtual Lens®.
The Phase Focus Virtual Lens has the potential to enable a step change in imaging and microscopy, by eliminating the limitations and imperfections of conventional lenses and revealing a whole new dimension of imaging information.
This groundbreaking technology transfers the task of image creation from a lens to a sophisticated computer programme and can either be integrated inside existing microscopes or used as the basis for a range of next-generation microscopy products.
The Virtual Lens is already being used in a number of applications, such as commercial contact lens measurement and laboratory based cell analysis. Future applications will include systems with the potential to revolutionise the viewing of atomic-scale features that are beyond the limit of today’s most powerful electron and X-ray microscopes.
Ombu Group is leading the round with an investment of £3 million.
Fusion IP invested £220k in the round and as a result its shareholding is 34%.
Dr. Ian Pykett, Phase Focus's CEO, said:
"We are delighted to welcome such a prestigious new investor and the skills and experience that Ombu will bring to our management team. This substantial new investment recognises the successes we have had in generating revenues and commercial traction in the markets we have already entered. More importantly, it allows us not only to grow these current opportunities more rapidly, but also to exploit several new technology developments, and to address in parallel a number of new markets to which we believe our technology will bring great user value."
Commenting on the investment, Stephen Brooke, CEO of Ombu Group said:
“
Ombu Group is dedicated to backing cutting-edge UK advanced technology companies that have the potential to grow into substantial, durable businesses. This is a fantastic opportunity for us to partner with a company with remarkable technology that has just broken through into its full commercial phase. We had tracked Phase Focus for a few years before now and had always been amazed by the technology, so it is great to be able to back a team we have seen deliver and support them as they seek to grow their business. We really look forward to working closely with Ian, his talented team and Fusion IP along with the company’s other existing shareholders to build on the great work they have done over the last few years.”
David Baynes, CEO of Fusion, said
“This is a step change for the company and one that will transform commercialisation of the company’s revolutionary technology. The development of nanotechnology applications requires the ability to analysis and visualise at the atomic scale, and the Phase Focus Virtual Lens has the potential to meet this market need and become a truly disruptive imaging technology. Bringing greater fidelity, accuracy and magnifying power to bear in manufacturing industries as diverse as life sciences and semiconductor fabrication.