Pragmatic Printing, a Cambridge-based developer of flexible electronics, has raised £5.4m ($8.1m).
Cambridge Innovation Capital, the university venturing fund of the eponymous institution, and microchip developer Arm, one of the university’s most famous spin-outs, both backed the round along with existing shareholders.
The funding will be used to scale up Pragmatic’s operations, and positions it to take a larger share of the flexible electronics market, expected to grow substantially over the coming decade. The company’s electronics could have numerous uses, including smart packaging and wireless traceability and authentication of documents. Pragmatic hopes that the funding will enable the company to increase its production to 100 million flexible integrated circuits by the end of the year.
Scott White, Chief Executive Officer at PragmatIC, explains: “We have become accustomed to silicon chips being incorporated into high-value documents such as passports and credit cards, but there are limitations to how robustly and cost-effectively this can be done. Our technology platform creates a microcircuit thinner than a human hair that can be easily embedded in any flexible surface.”
