Cambridge University spin-out Paragraf has closed a £2.9m Seed to develop its graphene technology.
The round was led by Cambridge Enterprise, the commercialisation arm of the University of Cambridge, with the participation of Parkwalk Advisors, Amadeus Capital Partners, IQ Capital Partners and Angel investors.
Paragraf is working on commercialising graphene-based products. It develops electronic devices based on atom-layer thick 2D materials, namely graphene. Graphene is useful for electronic items due to its high conductivity, strength, very low weight and flexibility.
Prof. Sir Colin Humphreys, chairman and co-founder of Paragraf, said: “Graphene has been called the new wonder material, because of its potential to transform a range of industries such as electronics, energy and healthcare. However, so far, its applications have been limited because good quality graphene is only available in small flakes.
“Our underlying research has the capability to transform production by providing good quality, large-area graphene on a commercial scale.”
The company claim it has created the first ever commercial-scale method to deliver functionally active graphene. It has already produced electrical graphene layers, to be made into very sensitive detectors at commercial scale, that can be used in everyday tech such as LED’s.
This funding will be used to develop its major products.
Hermann Hauser, co-founder of global investor Amadeus Capital Partners, which participated in the round, remarked: “Graphene has demonstrated some remarkable achievements in the lab, showing great promise for many future electronic technologies. However, without a pathway to commercial viability, scaling from proof of concept to end user accessible products remains beyond the horizon.
“Paragraf’s novel approach to two-dimensional materials fabrication brings the possibility of mass market graphene based devices a step closer to reality,”Hauser added.
Graphene can also be used to deliver clock speeds faster than silicon-based devices; more sensitive chemical and electrical sensors, and novel energy generation devices tapping into kinetic and chemical green energy sources.
Paragraf is a spin-out from the Department of Materials Science at the University of Cambridge.