Nanoco signs joint development agreement with key Asian customer
Nanoco, the Runcorn tech company which develops materials used in the manufacture of monitors and TV screens and technologies for medical imaging and the early diagnosis of cancer, has signed a joint development agreement (JVA) with one of its key customers, an important Asian chemical company.
The University of Manchester spin-out said the two-year programme has now begun and creates a longer term and deeper collaboration between the two companies, who have been working together since June 2021.
The JDA follows on from the successful delivery of all technical milestones in the six short development projects previously undertaken for the customer which were focused on delivering a novel second generation nanomaterial for use in infra-red sensing.
With proof of concept now achieved, the key goal of the JDA is to optimise the material for the performance required by a number of global electronics applications. Once this is successfully delivered, the subsequent stage will involve scale-up to industrial production levels during 2026 and 2027.
The JDA helps to underpin the Nanoco board’s expectations for non-license fee income in FY24, which are in line with FY23 and is also expected to deliver additional sales of test materials during FY24 and FY25.
Brian Tenner, Nanoco’s CEO, said: “The JDA marks a significant milestone during our collaboration with an important customer and in delivering world leading levels of performance for our new second generation sensing material.
“The extended commitment highlights our customer’s confidence and belief in Nanoco and the applicability of quantum dot technology to the significant global infra-red sensing markets in which it operates. Our customer is a very significant player in electronics supply chains and extends Nanoco’s reach to their many customers.”
He added: “We are encouraged that both of our current key customers continue to show strong momentum in their engagements with Nanoco and continue to feed our pipeline of new material development to ensure future commercial production income streams. We look forward to developing these relationships further as progress continues.”
Last month Nanoco declared a pre-tax profit for the year to July 31, 2023, and said it has moved from “an R&D first mover to a commercial producer”.
Its unaudited results showed a 128% increase in revenues, of £5.6m, and a £9.573m pre-tax profit, compared with a pre-tax loss of £5.221m the previous year.
