Siemens partners in £2m Scottish sensor array startup funding
Investment company Braveheart (AIM: BRH) has made an investment in Pyreos Ltd in partnership with Siemens Technology Accelerator (STA), a 100 percent subsidiary of Siemens and the Scottish Venture Fund (SVF). The total value of the investment is approximately £2 million.
Advertisement
Pyreos was formed in July 2007 in Edinburgh, and has been assigned patented IP relating to infrared sensor materials and devices from Siemens AG, with whom the company continues to have a close working relationship to help bring to market and manufacture an initial range of novel infrared sensor array products. These are targeted at the growing demand for improved motion detection, infrared camera and spectroscopy products. Pyreos says it represents an existing global market opportunity estimated to be valued at over £500 million by 2012.
The company’s passive infrared sensor array products offer performance advantages over current infrared technology at an attractive price point that can also enable the creation of a new range of lower priced infra-red products. Early discussions with OEMs and system integrators have been positive, with a number testing samples of its first products for specific market applications.
To date, Pyreos’ progress has been backed by the its founders and by STA, which commercialises technologies generated within Siemens with the intention of bringing them to the external market. There is an IP transfer agreement in place between Pyreos and STA and the transfer of the technology will take place over the course of the next year.
The proceeds of this round of financing will allow the expansion of the Company’s technical and commercial operations as well as provide funds for capital equipment to enable product prototyping and manufacturing development.
Rudolf Freytag, CEO of Siemens Technology Accelerator, said, “In Scotland we found the ideal mix of strong investors, an excellent management team, and the right high-tech infrastructure to support a new technology company. We are confident that the Pyreos technology will make an important difference in the infrared detector and camera markets. Siemens continues to support Pyreos: Christian Wiesinger, CFO of Siemens Technology Accelerator will continue in is current role as a non-executive director for Pyreos.
Pyreos was founded by Edinburgh based entrepreneurs Jeff Wright, Scott Freeborn, and Carsten Giebeler along with Siemens Technology Accelerator to take advantage of the growing opportunity for advanced infrared sensor array technology, which has a significant role to play in environmental and security related markets and products.
The company’s infrared sensor components are based on the unique and patented thin-film pyroelectric infrared technology that was acquired from Siemens. These are produced using semiconductor processes and can add value to a range of products including motion detectors, environmental monitoring and infrared cameras used in security and energy monitoring. The company is based at the Scottish Microelectronics Centre in Edinburgh and has a number of development and manufacturing partners within the UK and Europe helping bring its products to market.
Comments on this story? Send an email to the editor: address - editor [@] thechilli.com
 |
|
|
© Chilli Publishing Ltd 2008 |
22 JAN 2008 |
