FIPP Frontier Ip Group Plc

RNS

AIM: FIPP

24 March 2025

Frontier IP Group Plc

("Frontier IP" or the "Group")

Portfolio news - CamGraphIC secures €25 million in a Series A funding round

Frontier IP, a specialist in commercialising intellectual property, today notes the following announcement from 2D Photonics SpA (the "Company"), a new company established to own and manage CamGraPhIC's activities in the UK and Italy, that it has raised €25 million in a Series A funding round for its wholly-owned Italian subsidiary CamGraPhIC Srl.

The funding round will be used to accelerate development and scale up of its advanced graphene photonics transceivers, including the creation of a pilot manufacturing plant, and has been backed by:

·    CDP Venture Capital - investing through its Large Ventures, Digital Transition and Toscana Next funds

·    the NATO Innovation Fund

·    the Sony Innovation Fund

·    Join Capital, a Berlin-based investor in early-stage deep technology firms

·    Bosch Ventures, the corporate venture capital company of engineering, technology and services company Bosch Group

·    Indaco Ventures, Italy's largest venture capital company

The support of major governmental, industry and financial institutions reflects the potential of 2D Photonics' technology to transform Artificial Intelligence and mobile communications by significantly cutting their costs, improving energy efficiency and increasing speeds.

Prototype transceivers have outperformed current silicon photonics technology and will consume 80 per cent less energy. There are potential applications in other significant sectors. The Company is a spin out from a partnership between the University of Cambridge and Italian research institute CNIT.

As part of the funding round Frontier IP has converted all the loans it previously made to the Company totalling approximately £2.7 million plus accrued interest into equity in the Company at the price of the Series A funding round. CamGraPhIC Limited, the UK arm, now becomes a wholly owned subsidiary of 2D Photonics, which now replaces CamGraPhIC in the Frontier IP portfolio.

On completion of the funding round and following the debt conversion, Frontier IP's equity stake in 2D Photonics will have an unaudited value of £3.1 million which was substantially reflected in the audited financial statements of Frontier IP as at 30 June 2024 based on the agreed non-binding terms of the Series A financing at that date.

Following the fundraising, Frontier IP's Advanced Electronics Commercialisation Director Ben Jensen has joined 2D Photonics full time as Chief Executive Officer.

Frontier IP Chief Executive Officer Neil Crabb said: "This fundraising is a major milestone for 2D Photonics and Frontier IP. The potential of the technology to be a game changer for artificial intelligence, mobile telecommunications and other strategically important sectors is underlined by the quality of the investors backing the Company.

"I am very proud of the role Frontier IP has played in bringing such an important technology to this point. Although I am very sorry to see Ben leave Frontier IP, he is the right person to lead 2D Photonics as it embarks on the next phase of its growth. I would like to thank him for his invaluable contributions to the Group and 2D Photonics. We are looking forward to working with Ben in his new role in the future."

2D Photonics statement begins:

CamGraPhIC Secures €25 Million to Improve Energy Efficiency and Bandwidth in Artificial Intelligence and Cellular Data Transfer

Investors include CDP Venture Capital, NATO Innovation Fund, Sony Innovation Fund, Join Capital, Bosch Ventures, Frontier IP Group plc, and Indaco Venture Partners

 Milan, IT and Cambridge, UK, March 24th, 2025 - CamGraPhIC Srl, a leader in energy-efficient, high-bandwidth optical interconnect technology and a wholly owned subsidiary of 2D Photonics SpA (www.2dphotonics.com), today announces the successful completion of a €25 million Series A equity funding round. This investment, raised through 2D Photonics, will be directly utilised by CamGraPhIC to support their continued innovation in graphene photonics transceivers, an advanced technology set to revolutionize artificial intelligence and cellular data transmission by improving energy efficiency, reducing latency, and increasing bandwidth.

With the investment, CamGraPhIC Srl will enhance its research and development capabilities in Pisa and establish a pilot manufacturing line in the Milan area. CamGraPhIC is also discussing with the Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy measures to support their new activities via the National Chips Fund.

This new facility will demonstrate a scalable mass production process compatible with commercial semiconductor and photonics foundries, reinforcing CamGraPhIC's position at the forefront of next-generation optical technology.

The funding round was co-led by CDP Venture Capital, through its Large Ventures, Digital Transition and Toscana Next Funds, NATO Innovation Fund, Sony Innovation Fund, and Join Capital, with participation from Bosch Ventures, Frontier IP Group plc, and Indaco Venture Partners.

CamGraPhIC's graphene-based transceivers provide a viable, stable, and highly scalable alternative to current silicon-based photonics. These advanced transceivers deliver much higher bandwidth density, and exceptional latency performance while consuming 80% less energy compared to traditional pluggable data centre optical transceivers. This innovation is particularly effective for transferring large volumes of data between Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) and High Bandwidth Memory (HBM), which are fundamental to Generative AI and high-performance computing.

Additionally, the transceivers operate efficiently across a far broader temperature range, eliminating the need for complex and costly cooling systems. Thanks to a simplified device architecture enabled by a unique integration of ultra-high-quality graphene into the photonic structure, these transceivers are also more cost-effective to manufacture.

Initially targeting AI GPU to HBM interconnects, 2D Photonics with CamGraPhIC also plan to expand into avionics, automotive advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS), and space applications, where their rugged, high-performance transceivers offer significant technical and commercial advantages over existing technologies.

The funding will also be used to build out the senior team and initiate the scale-up of the technology in Milan, Italy, focusing on optimizing production for large-scale manufacturing in a semiconductor foundry environment.

CamGraPhIC was founded in 2018 by Andrea Ferrari, Director of the Cambridge Graphene Centre, and Marco Romagnoli, Head of Research Sector - Advanced Technologies for Photonic Integration at the Pisa National Inter-University Consortium for Telecommunications (CNIT), with the support of Frontier IP Group. 2D Photonics SpA is the group Topco formed as part of this Series A investment round.

Ben Jensen, Chief Executive Officer, 2D Photonics, said: "This investment underscores the confidence our investors have in our groundbreaking graphene-based optical transceiver technology and its potential to redefine the energy efficiency and performance of data transfer in artificial intelligence and other data systems. With support from some of Europe's leading deep tech investors, we'll continue to pursue our mission: tackle some of the most pressing challenges in the modern data economy by delivering highly scalable, innovative solutions that reduce energy consumption, enhance bandwidth, and optimize latency."

"We are very proud to bring back to Italy the excellence of 2D Photonics, a company with a revolutionary technology capable of enabling the next digital transition on the key infrastructures of the future," said Agostino Scornajenchi, CEO and General Manager of CDP Venture Capital. "With this operation, the company will be able to accelerate the development and large-scale production of its transceiver devices that integrate graphene and photonics for data transmission, both through the expansion of its existing R&D operations in Pisa and the upcoming new production site."

CDP Venture Capital's investment was led by the Large Ventures Fund, the first venture capital vehicle in the Italian market for scale-ups and deep-tech strategic ventures with significant funding needs. The investment also saw participation from the Digital Transition Fund, which leverages resources allocated by the EU through the NextGeneration EU initiative to support the digital transition of businesses, and the regional co-investment fund Toscana Next. The latter was established and managed by CDP Venture Capital and subscribed to by the main banking foundations of the Tuscany region (Fondazione CR Firenze, Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Lucca, Fondazione Caript, Fondazione Monte dei Paschi di Siena) to maximize innovation investments for the local territory.

Antonio Avitabile, Managing Director - EMEA, Sony Ventures, said: "Sony Innovation Fund is committed to investing in technologies that drive the future of computing, networking, and AI acceleration. 2D Photonics' pioneering graphene photonics technology has the potential to dramatically improve data efficiency and scalability, directly addressing the growing energy demands of AI and high-performance computing. We look forward to supporting the 2D Photonics team as they bring this breakthrough technology to market."

Ben Balmforth, Senior Associate, NATO Innovation Fund, said: "We are thrilled to be supporting 2D Photonics' novel approach to building advanced, graphene-based transceiver technology. High-speed and efficient data communication is critical to the security and resilience of the Alliance, underpinning technologies such as AI and telecommunications, as well as having applications within aerospace and defence. We are proud to support the 2D Photonics' team as they commercialise this key technology."

Sebastian von Ribbentrop, co-founder of JOIN capital, highlights: "Graphene photonics promises to deliver unparalleled speeds and bandwidth, driving groundbreaking advancements in AI, cloud computing, and telecommunications. Headquartered in Italy, 2D Photonics has attracted top engineering talent and is contributing to Europe's independence in key enabling technologies driving resilience, wealth, and sovereignty. We are thrilled to back the team that was able to translate academic research on graphene into silicon-proven commercial IP."

Ingo Ramesohl, Managing Director of Bosch Ventures, commented: "We are excited to support 2D Photonics in their journey to revolutionize optical interconnect technology with their innovative graphene-based transceivers. The potential for significant energy savings and enhanced performance aligns perfectly with our commitment to advancing sustainable and efficient technologies. We believe that 2D Photonics' groundbreaking solutions will play a crucial role in the future of data transfer, particularly in AI and other high-demand applications, and we look forward to seeing their continued success and impact on the industry."

Neil Crabb, Chief Executive Officer of Frontier IP, commented: "2D Photonics advanced graphene technology has the capability to become a gamechanger for artificial intelligence, mobile computing and a host of other strategically important sectors. As co-founders of the Company, we are delighted with the success of this Series A funding round. In particular, the wide mix of prominent investors, from the worlds of finance, industry and governmental organisations, is a strong testament to the Company's potential."

Alvise Bonivento, Investment Director of Indaco Venture Partners, commented: "We are very excited by the recent developments of 2D Photonics and we are thrilled to continue to support its journey in the development of graphene integrated photonics for high speed communications and AI. We believe that this round is an important milestone to create a world leading technology company in Italy in a field that is becoming crucial for the of AI technology in the years to come"

Marco Romagnoli added, "With the backing of renowned investors, we are excited to propel towards commercialization the Graphene Photonics technology to overcome the interconnection bottleneck of regenerative AI processing systems and driving the next leap in scaling bandwidth and reducing energy consumption for the future of optical data communications"

Andrea Ferrari stated that: "We are thrilled for this new phase in the journey towards commercialization of CamGraPhIC groundbreaking and energy efficient devices, to speed up development of AI hardware, without impacting global emissions. Having Sony Innovation Fund, Bosch Ventures and NATO as shareholders and board members will help focus the work towards the most relevant applications, including defence and security."

2D Photonics Contact Details:

enquiries@2dphotonics.com

www.2dphotonics.com

www.camgraphic-technology.com

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ABOUT FRONTIER IP

Frontier IP unites science and commerce by identifying strong intellectual property and accelerating its development through a range of commercialisation services. A critical part of the Group's work is involving relevant industry partners at an early stage of development to ensure technology meets real world demands and needs.

The Group looks to build and grow a portfolio of equity stakes and licence income by taking an active involvement in spin-out companies, including support for fund raising and collaboration with relevant industry partners at an early stage of development.