The company will also use the funds to accelerate customer projects, increase its manufacturing capacity, and increase its research and development to explore further applications of its patented Gii material.
The funding round was led with £4m from the Scottish National Investment Bank (the Bank), with a further £4.8m coming from existing iGii shareholders Archangel Investors and Par Equity.
iGii’s patented innovation, Gii, is a 3D foam made from carbon atoms. It is said to combine the desirable physical properties of graphene, such as sensitivity, flexibility and conductivity, without its scale-up and mass application challenges.
The funding will help iGii scale manufacturing of Gii-Sens, the company’s highly sensitive and accurate component for point-of-care diagnostic sensors. This application of Gii is experiencing strong demand globally due to its ability to deliver precise, laboratory-level results for illnesses and indicators of illness, including cancers, pathogens and liver and heart failure.
The company will also deepen its R&D into other applications of Gii, targeting improved performance for water and food quality sensors, agricultural sensors, and battery storage.
In a statement, Jean-Christophe Granier, CEO at iGii, said: “This additional funding will enable us to accelerate ongoing customer projects and invest in our reel-to-reel manufacturing capabilities to deliver commercial quantities of Gii worldwide for our customers.”
Gii is also claimed to be an environmentally sustainable material as it is manufactured using a low-energy and chemical-free process, producing minimal waste and making the material more cost-effective than traditional sensing materials, such as gold.
Niki McKenzie, joint managing director for Archangels: “As an ambitious Scottish tech company with significant global opportunities, iGii is a great example of the type of business we invest in to drive long-term growth. Having scaled up its manufacturing capabilities, and with this funding secured, iGii now has the platform to realise its growth ambitions.”
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I tend to agree, based on my experience with every single piece of consumer electronic or electrical equipment I´ve purchased over the last 20 years...