Pixel-Flo, a University of Sheffield spinout, has secured a £5.25m seed round led by Northern Gritstone with additional investment from SCVC, the Parkwalk Northern Universities Venture Fund and HTGF.
The startup is developing a cost reduction breakthrough that it says is ‘critically needed’ for microLED display manufacturing.
Pixel-Flo says microLED is the next wave of display technology, offering two to five times higher brightness and two to four times greater efficiency than traditional displays.
However, the firm says volume adoption of microLED is currently limited by the scalability challenges of mechanical mass transfer techniques. By comparison, Pixel-Flo says its technology offers high continuous throughput at reduced processing and material costs. This will allow microLED-enabled products from smartwatches to TVs to be made available at mass market price points.
The latest oversubscribed funding round, which included a £2.5m investment from Northern Gritstone, will support Pixel-Flo’s transition from laboratory development towards industrial scale-up, expanding its team and relocating to new lab and office spaces.
“This investment allows us to expand our team and demonstrate our unique technology on a commercial coating system, enabling partnership and evaluation by display manufacturing partners,” says Rick Smith, CEO and Co-founder of Pixel-Flo.
“We are proud to have a fantastic international consortium of complementary investors led by Northern Gritstone supporting our international ambitions to enable huge new market opportunities for microLED.”
