LONDON, UK: Frontier IP, a specialist in commercialising intellectual property, announced that portfolio company CamGraPhIC has raised £1.26 million through an equity funding round from existing and new investors to develop and scale up its graphene-based photonics technology for use in high-speed data and telecommunications networks.

Sir Michael Rake, the former chair of BT Group plc, is an investor in CamGraPhIC and will be joining its board of directors by the end of the year. He is currently advising the Company on an informal basis.

The new funding is being raised through an advanced subscription agreement, meaning shares will be issued at a later date. Frontier IP’s equity stake in the Company is 20.8 per cent. Frontier IP invested £300,000 and coordinated the funding round with investment platform Wealth Club. Its clients invested £813,475.

CamGraPhIC is developing graphene-based photonics technology for scalable, faster and cheaper optical transceivers, devices at the heart of high-speed data and telecommunications networks. They have the potential to become a core enabling technology for next generation 5G networks and beyond.

The transceivers are also more energy efficient, meaning they are not only cheaper to buy, but also to run. Other uses will include 6G mm wave, which has the potential to transmit data at speeds up to 1 terabyte per second, High Performance Computing and networks able to meet the demands of processor-intensive artificial intelligence applications.

Progress to date has been highly encouraging. Current versions of the technology have indicated speeds of up to 100Gbps per lane and operation across multiple wavebands. Their speed is about twice that achieved in laboratory conditions by equivalent technologies, while it is projected that they consume 70 per cent less energy.

Proceeds from the funding round will be used to complete fabrication and testing of the demonstration devices. The technology has attracted interest from major multinationals in the semiconductor and telecommunications sectors. Customer testing is expected to begin in September.

Sir Michael is Chair of Wireless Logic Group Ltd, Chair of Ola UK Pvt Ltd, Chair of Phoenix Global Resources plc, Majid Al Futtaim Holdings LLC, Newday Group UK Ltd and is also a Senior Advisor for Citi Group.

His previous roles, in addition to chairing BT Group, include Chair of Worldplay Group plc, EasyJet plc and President of the Confederation of British Industry. He was also a member of the Prime Minister’s Business Advisory Group, Deputy Chair of Barclays plc, and a director of S&P Global Inc.

CamGraPhIC’s underlying graphene-photonics technology has a host of further applications and is being developed under licence from the University of Cambridge.

Sir Michael Rake said: “As an investor and informal adviser to the Company, I have been very impressed with its technology and the possibilities that it opens up for transforming the vital infrastructure of data and telecommunications networks. It will be a pleasure to become more closely involved as a member of the board of directors, and I look forward to taking up the role later this year.”

Paul Mantle, Chief Executive Officer, CamGraPhIC, said: “We are delighted to secure this funding and that Sir Michael is joining the CamGraPhIC board of directors. His experience in telecommunications and the wider business world will be invaluable as we grow.

“Our graphene-based photonics technology has the potential to transform high-speed data and telecommunications. We look forward to evaluating the technology with customers and receiving the first results.”

Neil Crabb, Frontier IP Chief Executive Officer, said: “Sir Michael’s decision to join the CamGraPhIC board of directors is a strong validation of the Company’s technology. The world needs ever greater amounts of data, and we believe this technology could prove critical in meeting those demands.”

Alex Davies, CEO and Founder of Wealth Club said: “As a significant existing shareholder in the Company (20.9 per cent), we were delighted to be able to support CamGraPhIC for the second time. Wealth Club clients invested £813,475 in this latest round, having previously invested £1.5m; giving the business the best opportunity to ramp up progress in a race to become the first to launch this exciting technology to market. The Company has a compelling mix of stakeholders – strong academics, strategic investors and management with close links to major industrial partners.”