PragmatIC, an intelligent electronics packaging company, raked in £18m in a Series A funding round. Investors included Avery Dennison, ARM and Cambridge Innovation Capital (CIC), a Cambridge-based technology and healthcare investor.
Avery Dennison, a Fortune 500 company headquartered in Pasadena, will leverage the potential of PragmatIC’s flexible integrated circuits. Scott White, CEO of PragmatIC, commented,
The funding provides full support for our next stage of evolution, moving from pilot scale production to enable volume manufacturing with the FlexLogIC equipment.
Based in Cambridge, PragmatIC is way ahead of the game in producing ultra low cost flexible electronics, enabling the potential for trillions of “smart objects” that can sense and communicate with their environment. Its unique technology platform enables integrated circuits thinner than a human hair – FlexICs that can be easily embedded in any surface, introducing interactivity into a wide range of everyday items.
This also takes care of the costs – at a fraction of the price of conventional silicon chips, PragmatIC’s products enable a vast range of new applications, from intelligent packaging of fast-moving consumer goods, to wireless traceability of documents for security and identification. PragmatIC currently has a production facility based at the National Centre for Printable Electronics in Sedgefield.
The funding will therefore go a long way in supporting the commercialisation and product development of its FlexLogIC equipment, and accelerate the deployment of its intelligent packaging. Also, the company will also use the funds to accelerate development and commercialization of its flexible integrated circuits (FlexICs).
Victor Christou, CEO of CIC, commented:
This funding allows PragmatIC to deliver into the market a tool for producing flexible integrated circuits at an unprecedentedly low unit price point. We believe this is an important step forward to commercially affordable smart packaging.
PragmatIC now has a growing customer base that includes large multi-national customers across a number of sectors, including consumer goods, packaging, security printing and mainstream electronics.
