The founder and chief executive of Cambridge-based microchip firm Paragraf has expressed his deep frustration with the current funding environment in the UK.
Paragraf CEO Simon Thomas
Speaking to City A.M., Simon Thomas revealed that US investors are leading the current financing round for his company. He said he finds it “disheartening” that his firm is struggling to secure substantial domestic support.
“I can move to the US tomorrow,” he said, adding that he has made this comment before and remains “more than happy” to repeat it. “I can move elsewhere in the world and get better support.”
Paragraf, the first company to mass produce high-performance graphene-based semiconductors, says its chips are a thousand times faster than today’s typical silicon wafers, and can use 10,000 times less energy in some cases.
Thomas described the breakthrough as a “major change” that has seeded a new industry in the technology world. But despite the company’s success so far, Thomas lamented the challenges in securing UK-based investment.
“We have a financing round right now,” he said. “We’re being quite successful, and we have a proportion of that financing round committed. But it will not surprise you to know that the lead in that financing round is the US.”
Thomas also admitted that he has received offers to relocate his business to China “many times”, although he is currently committed to scaling the company within the UK.
“We’re looking for new investors to not just bring capital, but also capability –their expertise, market connections, global market links,” he said.
He warned that without domestic production of advanced chips, the UK risks falling behind and becoming reliant on China or the US for critical hardware. “You can be the best in AI in the world, in this country, but if you don’t have the hardware, then you have nothing.”
Thomas’s frustration has been spurred by recent reports of a new process to create graphene, known as CVD graphene. While China invests billions into developing this process, Thomas said that it performs worse than Paragraf’s existing technology.
Deep tech innovation in the UK is well supported. Deep tech scaling is not.
Simon Thomas
Reports of breakthroughs he achieved “years ago” have left him “really, really frustrated,” particularly as they have led to a spike in investors approaching him with concerns.
For some of them, it may have revived memories of graphene’s chequered history. Since its invention in 2004 in Manchester, graphene has been hailed as a wonder material.
However, early manufacturing methods were incompatible with the electronics industry and led to significant financial losses for investors who had poured billions into its development. Thomas said this history has created a stigma, causing investors to doubt graphene’s viability and be extra wary of new investments.
In spite of good intention from the government, he said the UK’s inadequate support for deep tech scaling persists. “It’s an age-old problem,” he said. “Deep tech innovation in the UK is well supported. Deep tech scaling is not.”