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REG - Frontier IP Group - CamGraphIC secures €25 million in Series A funding

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RNS Number : 7479B  Frontier IP Group plc  24 March 2025

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 (http://www.2dphotonics.com)

www.camgraphic-technology.com (http://www.camgraphic-technology.com)

 

ENQUIRIES

 

 Frontier IP Group Plc                                                  T: 020 3968 7815 neil@frontierip.co.uk (mailto:neil@frontierip.co.uk)

 Neil Crabb, Chief Executive

                                                                        M: 07464 546 025

 Andrew Johnson, Communications & Investor Relations                    andrew.johnson@frontierip.co.uk (mailto:andrew.johnson@frontierip.co.uk)

 Company website: www.frontierip.co.uk (http://www.frontierip.co.uk/)

 Allenby Capital Limited (Nominated Adviser)                            T: 0203 328 5656

 Nick Athanas / Daniel Dearden-Williams

 Singer Capital Markets (Broker)                                        T: 0207 496 3000

 Charles Leigh-Pemberton / James Fischer

 

 

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.

 

 

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