Vector Photonics

Vector Photonics has received £1.667 million of equity investment and £1.27 million of additional research funding to provide a strong, financial base to continue the development and commercialisation of the company’s unique and revolutionary, surface emitting laser technologies. The equity investment comes from four companies, all of which have invested in Vector Photonics previously, which are Foresight WAE Technology (FWT) Funds, UK Innovation & Science Seed Fund (UKI2S), Equity Gap and Scottish Enterprise. The new, research funding comprises two development projects. The first, FRONTIERS, is a £670k, revenue-generating, development project for free-space optics, funded by the Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI). The second, GRAPHICS, is a £600k, Innovate UK-funded grant, in collaboration with the University of Glasgow, developing Gallium Nitride (GaN) material processing expertise. This could lead to blue and green lasers that consume 70% less power than equivalent LEDs. More... https://lnkd.in/eKKa2ucR

Neil Martin, CEO of Vector Photonics, was invited to ‘Accelerate’, a two-day Venture and Growth Equity conference held by the British Private Equity & Venture Capital Association (BVCA), 21-22 May 2024. Neil joined other senior business leaders and innovative entrepreneurs at the networking conference, designed to link them with Angel, Venture and Growth Capital investors. The two-day conference looked at 'Seed to Series A' and 'Late-Stage Venture to Growth Equity' investments. The BVCA Accelerate conference was held at the stunning BAFTA 195 Piccadilly, London.

Neil Martin, CEO of Vector Photonics, was invited to a reception at 10 Downing Street, hosted by Saqib Bhatti MP MBE, Minister for Technology and Digital Economy. The reception was to celebrate the first anniversary of the National Semiconductor Strategy, which has successfully helped achieve growth and a clear vision for the sector. It was also to launch the independent, UK Semiconductor Institute; a new organisation set up to promote, steer and support the £1 billion strategy. The strategy’s success and relevance can partly be attributed to the involvement of industry, academia, and international stakeholders, during its development, which the institute also seeks to build on, as well as attracting UK and foreign investment. More... https://lnkd.in/eDWiHj6j

Happy 30th birthday @Photonics_Scotland! It was great to join in the birthday celebrations last night, catching up with other members of the hugely capable and rapidly growing Scottish photonics cluster. Photonics Scotland and its parent organisation, Technology Scotland do a great job representing the photonics cluster in Scotland – representing industry interests; promoting Scottish photonics capabilities worldwide; and influencing policy and support in government for investment and international trade. A great night was had by all! 

Dr. Richard Taylor, CTO at Vector Photonics, is a guest speaker at the inaugural Scottish Conference in Optical Technologies (SCOT), held at St Andrews, 22 to 24 April. Vector Photonics is a gold sponsor of the SCOT conference, which is a student-led event, supporting both its job fair and event dinner. SCOT will showcase Scotland’s world-leading, optics and photonics capability across the Universities of St Andrews, Strathclyde, Glasgow, Dundee and Heriot Watt. The conference comprises keynote addresses, presentation sessions, posters and industrial sessions covering all aspects of optics, photonics, sensing, quantum information, quantum computing, laser design and structured light. More... https://lnkd.in/eW5Q6uFN For more information on SCOT, go to the event website here: https://lnkd.in/eG-MtiDq

This is a great video for World Quantum Day recognising Vector Photonics and the part Scotland plays in the global, quantum supply chain. #Glentanglement #QuantumValley

Vector Photonics and a pioneering engineering unit at the University of Glasgow have signed a collaboration agreement to develop revolutionary lasers that could have a use in manufacturing and consumer products. The agreement will see Vector Photonics, a spinout company from the University of Glasgow, working closely with the Critical Technologies Accelerator (CTA), which is based within the James Watt Nanofabrication Centre (JWNC), a world-renowned centre of excellence in semiconductor laser research and development at the University. The new technology involves surface emitting laser devices and so-called PCSELs systems that emit light out of their top surface which can be incorporated in a number of novel applications. The technology can be used in the cutting of a range of materials during the manufacturing process. And because PCSEL systems work on lower power, they can also be integrated into next-generation augmented reality and virtual reality headsets. More... https://lnkd.in/edvH7PDs

It was our pleasure to host Technology Scotland at our Glasgow HQ last week. Dr Alison McLeod and Dr Alastair McInroy joined us for lunch and our annual catch up. Vector Photonics is a long standing member of Technology Scotland, which helps to promote Scottish technology capabilities worldwide; influences policy in Scottish and UK governments; and enables networking and collaboration events.

Euan Livingston, Sales and Marketing Director at Vector Photonics, will attend the Commercialising Quantum Technologies Workshop on Wednesday 13th March, organised by the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) and Technology Scotland. The workshop will help shape the debate around the UK and Scotland’s commercialisation of quantum and quantum-enabled technologies, and will consider investment, challenges and the global positioning of Scotland and the UK. Government, industry, and technology leaders are represented, with support from the National Quantum Technologies Programme (NQTP) and the NPL Quantum Programme. Sir Peter Knight, of Imperial College London, is a guest speaker, joined by Dr Amy Nommeots-Nomm, Early-Stage Deep Tech Investor, Octopus Ventures; Edward De Francesco, Programme Manager, Office for Quantum, Dept. Science, Innovation and Technology; and John Devaney, Quantum Standards, National Physical Laboratory. For more information about the workshop: https://lnkd.in/eMzpviS2 

International Women's Day 2024 #IWD2024 #inspireinclusion Anna O'Dowd, Design Engineer, and Sharon Doonin, Business Support Manager, at Vector Photonics are featured in Opening up Photonics’ celebration of International Women's Day 2024. Opening up Photonics is a Technology Scotland initiative set up to highlight and address the barriers faced by women and minority groups in Scotland’s photonics sector. Its prime aims are to increase accessibility and champion diversity. All the women represented were asked the following two questions: 1. What inspired you to go into photonics as a career? 2. What can we, the photonics sector, do to inspire more inclusion in our sector? See their answers here: https://lnkd.in/ei25DwDs