Birmingham firm secures over £3m in funding for new tech

Birmingham-based antenna specialist Novocomms has secured £3.6m in funding from the Government’s Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI).

The grant will be used to develop 5G mmWave consumer premises equipment (CPE).

It will allow Novocomms to hire up to ten new electronic engineers, potentially creating an additional 50 production jobs if the new technology proves successful.

Current high-speed CPE units on the market often use existing technology for the new 28 GHz bands, potentially limiting the full capabilities of 5G at mmWave frequencies

Novocomms aims to deliver a solution over the next 13 months using next-generation silicon, software, and an electronically steerable antenna.

Funding for the project was provided by Innovate UK via the Small Business Research Initiative.

Sampson Hu, founder and CEO of Novocomms, said: “We’re delighted to have secured this funding from the SBRI, as it gives us the vital support we need to develop new technologies that will be used across the world. This is not simply research and development but is linked commercially to our belief that the global market for 5G mmWave devices is enormous. Our predictions on the huge potential for this technology were re-confirmed at this year’s Mobile World Congress, where there was a lot of interest in the adoption of 28 GHz.”