A University of Sheffield spin-out company has secured the backing of leading deep tech investors to bring its revolutionary infrared sensors – a game changer for robotics and self-driving machines – to the mass market.
Phlux Technology, which has designed high-performance sensors that surpass the capabilities of silicon-based sensors, has secured £4 million in seed funding in a round led by Octopus Ventures.
Spun-out of Sheffield’s Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering – known as a world leader in semiconductor R&D – Phlux has developed infrared sensors using the semi-metal element, antimony, which dramatically improves their performance in LiDAR systems – the technology behind the control and navigation of autonomous machines, such as cars and robots.
The sensors developed by the Sheffield start-up are the world’s first antimony-based LiDAR sensor chips with architecture that is 10 times more sensitive and has 50 per cent more range compared to silicon-based sensors. Its design also reduces the cost of manufacture of LiDAR sensors, opening them up to mass market adoption.
This radical new approach underlines the limitations of silicon-based sensors and how they struggle to enable low-cost autonomous applications.
Ben White, CEO and co-founder of Phlux Technology, said: “Our ambition is to become the Nvidia of the sensor market starting off with delivering the world’s first LiDAR sensor chip using antimony.
“Industry will never achieve full autonomy with LiDAR if it relies on silicon-based sensors, so our approach will reshape the sensor market for robotics and self-driving machines.
“We are delighted to be spinning Phlux out of the University of Sheffield at a time when it has ambitious plans to become a global centre of excellence for semiconductor research and the UK is looking to demonstrate its capabilities as a global science superpower.”
Infrared sensors, such as those that Phlux is building, have applications beyond LiDAR in satellite communications and enabling Internet in remote regions, fibre telecoms, autonomous vehicles, gas sensing and quantum communications.
Amy Nommeots-Nomm, deep tech investor, Octopus Ventures, said: “We are delighted to be leading this investment round for Phlux Technology, as this innovative breakthrough is critical to the future direction of transport, communication and emission monitoring systems. Today, there is market consolidation among the silicon-based sensor companies, precisely because they can’t solve the problem that Phlux has cracked, making its potential hugely exciting.”
The range of investors backing the start-up include Northern Gritstone – the investment company chaired by Lord O’Neill that is seeking to boost the commercialisation of university spin-outs in the North of England. It’s the second Sheffield-based start-up to receive investment from Northern Gritstone, since it was launched by a consortium of northern universities in 2021.
Duncan Johnson, CEO, Northern Gritstone, said: “Phlux Technology is a fantastic example of the exciting new generation of science and technology businesses in the North of England turning research into reality. The company’s innovative approach demonstrates how world beating technology, with the potential to change entire industries, is emerging from the Sheffield, Leeds and Manchester triangle. Northern Gritstone exists to support and supercharge businesses like Phlux.”
Investors also include the Foresight Williams Technology Fund, the Innovation Fund, industry specific angels and grant funding from Innovate UK.
Matthew Burke, head of technology ventures at Williams Advanced Engineering, said: “Increasing sensor performance whilst driving down cost are key enablers for accelerating the uptake of higher levels of driving automation and with this seed funding, we look forward to seeing Phlux’s sensor technology transition to full commercialisation.”
