Durham Graphene Science Ltd, a Durham University (UK) spin-out that is developing production technology for graphene, has raised £1.2m in seed funding.
The round was led by IP Group plc and The North East Technology Fund, which have each committed £500k, with participation from the Finance for Business North East Proof of Concept Fund, managed by Northstar Ventures, which committed £200k. The financing has been committed in two equal tranches, with the second contingent on certain milestones being met. Assuming the second tranche completes, the Group and The North East Technology Fund will each have a 22% stake in the company.
DGS intends to use the funding to scale up its production equipment and establish joint development agreements with partners to test the handling, dispersion and processing of the material across a wide variety of applications.
Founded on research developed by Dr Karl Coleman, Durham Graphene Science develops production technology for graphene which could enable it to be mass-produced for a wide variety of uses across multiple sectors including the automotive, aerospace, electronics and clean tech industries.