US deal allows tech firm to expand factory in Runcorn

North West firm Nanoco has announced it is to extend its factory in Runcorn after signing a deal with an unnamed US partner.

The firm leads the world in the research, development and large-scale manufacture of heavy metal-free nanomaterials for use in displays, lighting, solar energy and bio-imaging.

The company has confirmed to the Stock Exchange that it has signed a second agreement with its undisclosed US partner.

The deal includes success based milestone payments and development based funding.

Under the expanded agreement Nanoco will develop next generation nano-materials for use in future technologies including advanced electronic devices.

This development activity will begin immediately and will be carried at Nanoco’s Manchester research and development facility.

The US partner is funding the expenditure needed to expand the manufacturing capabilities of Nanoco’s existing Runcorn facility in order to supply commercial volumes of product.

An agreement has been reached to take over 10,000 sq. ft. of additional space in Runcorn to build a state-of-the-art production facility in order to commence commercial supply in January 2019.

Michael Edelman, Chief Executive of Nanoco, said: “We are extremely pleased to announce today’s development agreement with our new US listed partner which further demonstrates the significant momentum we are seeing across our business and the potential applications of our technology across multiple end markets.

“As a business, we are proud to be innovators in the development of nano-materials, with extensive intellectual property and specialist knowledge that gives us a clear competitive lead in this technology.

“Under this new agreement we will be developing an exciting new generation of nano-materials for use in future technologies.”