An Edinburgh University spinout transmitting data with light has raised $2m as it prepared the launch its USB dongle at the Mobile World Congress.
PureLiFi, an Edinburgh University spinout working on data transmission through light, raised $2m ahead of the launch of its computer dongle at Mobile World Congress 2016, according to the Scotsman.
The investors in this round were not disclosed.
PureLiFi has developed a wireless data transmission technology that uses light to transmit data. The system changes the intensity of LED lights in such a way as to transfer data from one device to another, establishing a high-speed data connection without the need for wifi or a mobile phone data signal.
The company spun out of Edinburgh University in 2012 when it was founded by Harald Haas, professor of mobile communications at the university.
The company’s latest product, Lifi-X, is a computer dongle the size of a credit card that can be used to enable any device with a USB socket to use lifi as a way of transmitting data.
In January 2015, PureLiFi raised £1.5m from London and Scottish Investment Partners, Scottish Investment Bank, the investment vehicle of Scotland government-owned Scottish Enterprise, and the investment arm of Edinburgh University, Old College Capital.
PureLiFi was reportedly nearing the close of a $10m funding round in 2014, however the round has not been confirmed.
Haas said: “It is exciting that so many of the tech giants are now engaging directly with lifi through Purelifi technologies. The miniaturisation and world’s first integration of high-performance lifi in a dongle is ground-breaking progress towards a lifi connected world.”
