Mercia Technologies leads £1m investment into University of Birmingham spinout

SPECIALIST funder Mercia Technologies has led a £1m investment into a University of Birmingham spinout.

Smart Antenna Technologies has developed a ground-breaking single antenna system solution for mobile and portable devices that require multiple data connections.

Henley-in-Arden-based Mercia has backed the company since 2013, initially via third party managed funds and then as a direct investment.

This latest investment round, which saw Mercia invest £250,000, was alongside Senetas Corporation, the Australian developer and manufacturer of certified high-assurance encryption hardware, and the new University of Birmingham Spinout Investment fund.

SAT intends to use the funding to complete product development for a potential industry partner, to further expand the engineering capabilities of the business and to extend its core technologies.

Sampson Hu, founder and CEO of Smart Antenna Technologies, said: “We’ve got a world-class technical approach and team of engineers, and this investment will boost our ability to deliver high quality partnerships over time.”

Currently, smartphones, laptops and other electronic devices require up to six antennae to achieve their full functionality, including Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth and mobile network coverage such as 4G LTE.  SAT’s patented technology could reduce the overall number of antennae required, thereby potentially achieving a reduction of up to 50% in the cost of materials for manufacturers, as well as improved performance, reduced size and increased battery life for the device.

The potential market for the product is large, with global sales of smartphones to end users alone totalling 403 million units in the fourth quarter of 2015, according to Gartner.

Dr Mark Volanthen, Investment Director and Head of Electronics, Hardware & Materials at Mercia, said: “SAT is a great example of the potential that spinouts from our partner universities have to grow over time into cash-generative, sustainable and valuable businesses.  The University of Birmingham has demonstrated its ability to build IP that can be taken to market and adapted to multi-million sectors, such as that of smart phones and other portable devices.

“We are pleased to continue to support SAT alongside the University and Senetas, and we look forward to working with the business extensively in the coming months as it continues to grow, and focus on industry engagement within its target markets.”

Dr James Wilkie, CEO of Alta Innovations, the university’s tech transfer company which manages the Spinout Investment fund, said: “The technology developed by Smart Antenna has attracted substantial interest, and we believe that this is an exciting time to invest.”

Senetas Corporation has invested £500,000 as part of the investment round.