Opsydia, a UK-based gemstone etching spinout from University of Oxford, emerged out of stealth yesterday with a £1.9m ($2.5m) seed round backed by university venture fund Oxford Sciences Innovation.
The round also featured investment firm Parkwalk Advisors, which had already revealed its involvement in the round in December 2017.
Founded in July 2017, Opsydia has developed laser technology to etch images and text, such as hallmarks and security information, at one-fiftieth the size of a human hair within diamonds and other gemstones. The technique does not impact the stone’s quality or grading.
The spinout has partnered Lightbox Jewellery, the newly launched synthetic diamond subsidiary of diamond mining and retail company De Beers.
Opsydia is based on research by Martin Booth and Patrick Salter at Oxford’s Department of Engineering Science.
The spinout expects its technology to also have applications in plastic and polymer materials. The approach could also be adapted to wire circuits in diamonds in order to create sensors.
Andrew Rimmer, chief executive of Opsydia, said: “Our laser technology can transform security in the diamond industry and support industry initiatives to prevent counterfeiting and tampering.
“Following the investment from our shareholders, we have a process that works today on an industrial scale. We expect to be able to deliver systems to operators in the diamond industry within months, allowing us to move swiftly to profitability.”
Steve Coe, general manager at Lightbox, said: “We are pleased to partner with Opsydia in the use of this exciting new technology.
“This internal laser marking technology will provide a robust means for the simple, visual identification of the stones in Lightbox Jewellery as being laboratory grown, while at the same time providing assurance to consumers that this product has been manufactured to high standards by a world leader in this field.”
