Mid-IR laser gas sensing spinoff MIRICO secures more than $4.7M funding

MIRICO (Oxford, England) secured more than $4.7M funding (3.5 million pounds) and appointed Linda Bell as CEO. The equity investment was led by Longwall Ventures ECF along with STFC Innovation, UK Innovation and Science Seed Fund (UKi2S), and new investors Foresight Williams Technology EIS Fund--a London-based investment fund for supporting disruptive technology. Originally a spinoff of the RAL Space Department of the UK’s Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) in late 2015, MIRICO produces equipment for high-precision sensing of gases using next-generation laser techniques.

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Linda has spent her career leading and building science-based businesses including PhosphonicS (exited in 2017), Inca Digital Printing, and before this as the managing director of Servomex Group (part of Spectris), a gas analysis instrumentation company. She holds a DPhil in Chemistry from Oxford University, an MBA, and is Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry.

Damien Weidmann, head of STFC's RAL Space Spectroscopy Group, and co-founder and chief scientific officer for MIRICO, who developed the technology, said, "The development of novel miniaturized sensing technologies for Space applications is highly demanding owing to their stringent requirements. This accuracy, precision, and ruggedness has enabled high impact development for challenging terrestrial applications. MIRICO exemplifies this process by fully exploiting space-developed technology in a creative and effective way to address global terrestrial market needs. This is really exciting times to take the technology to the next level, to collaborate further with industry, and pioneer the development of advanced mid infrared sensing systems and applications."

Tighter regulation on air quality and global climate change is driving a growing demand for more accurate, reliable and versatile technology. Furthermore, the growing sophistication of manufacturing processes such as semiconductor fabrications and chemicals processes, requires enhanced measurement capability whilst ensuring up time and minimal maintenance. MIRICO’s core technology can deliver the reliable measurement needed to meet these global challenges.

The equipment is used in a wide range of applications, including environmental monitoring to improve measurements for air quality and greenhouse gases and in industrial process control to measure a number of important gas molecules to improve process efficiency and product yield.

Mohammed Belal, co-founder and business development director, said, "This is an exciting new phase for MIRICO, the technology has great potential to add value across a range of sectors from improving our understanding of climate change to increasing production yield in semiconductor fabrication. This funding will help MIRICO transition from product engineering to manufacturing, helping us serve our current customer base and open up new opportunities."

Over the past two years MIRICO has developed a prototype system for remote detection of emissions for use in industrial facilities and scientific applications around the world. On the back of successful trials with major industrial and scientific collaborators, this funding will support MIRICO in finalizing our products and establish a manufacturing capability. This includes the development of MIRICO’s in situ sensor, the extractive gas analyzer.

SOURCE: MIRICO; http://mirico.co.uk/mirico-receives-3-5-million-backing/