THE chief executive of digital chemistry pioneer DeepMatter has hailed the benefits of basing the technology firm in Glasgow where it can tap into a deep pool of highly skilled workers.
Weeks after DeepMatter clinched a landmark sale of its technology to an Indian firm, Mark Warne said Glasgow made an ideal home for a firm with global ambitions.
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A spin out from Glasgow university, DeepMatter says its aim is to digitise chemistry. The company has developed systems that allow researchers to access the results of experiments online over the Cloud.
Mr Warne reckons its core DigitalGlassware platform could play a big role in helping chemists to develop innovative products by making the processes involved in the discovery of molecules more cost effective.
Having its operational base in Glasgow provides important advantages for a company whose systems draw on advances in software, artificial intelligence and hardware.
“There’s a massive pool of great quality software engineers and developers in Glasgow,” noted Mr Warne, who took charge last year after holding senior roles with a range of life sciences firms.
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He said DeepMatter could also benefit from the historic strengths that Glasgow has in the fields of chemistry and contract research to help the firm make faster progress than it could achieve in rival centres, citing the likes of Oxford and Cambridge.
Aim-listed DeepMatter sold an operation based in Cambridge earlier this year.
Noting that DeepMatter values its connections to Glasgow, Mr Warne said modern communications meant that being based there should be no obstacle to the firm making progress in markets ranging from Europe to the Americas.
He said DeepMatter expects to recruit people to work in operational leadership and sales and marketing roles in Glasgow in coming months.
Employee numbers in Glasgow are likely to increase to more than 20 in coming months, from 17. The company had 10 employees in Glasgow this time last year.
DeepMatter is targeting organisations in areas such as pharmaceuticals development and contract research and the universities sector for sales.
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Mr Warne appears confident that it is on the verge of achieving significant commercial success after making a big breakthrough in August.
The company is set to generate the first revenues in respect of DigitalGlassware after clinching an order in that month from o2h, a medicinal chemistry firm which is involved in drug discovery work.
Noting that o2h belonged to an international panel of pioneer firms involved in trials of DigitalGlassware Mr Warne said he was confident more orders will follow.
He said the firm has a substantive pipeline of sales opportunities and is in contractual negotiations regarding some, without giving details.
After posting a £1.6m first half loss yesterday, DeepMatter noted it generated its first revenues during the period.
The £0.2m concerned was attributable to sales of a software tool acquired with German business InfoChem in a £2m deal concluded in December.
Mr Warne noted the deal gave the firm greater control over knowhow that it will use in DigitalGlassware and access to an established customer base.
He said DeepMatter would consider making further acquisitions, but declined to go into detail. The company is in a robust cash position after completing a £4m placing in February.
DeepMatter says it aims to progress its platform to enable the use of artificial intelligence in chemistry. The ultimate objective is to allow chemicals to be synthesised autonomously through robotics operating on the platform.
The business was spun out of Glasgow university in 2014 by Lee Cronin, regius chair of chemistry. It changed its name from Cronin Group last year.
Mr Cronin stepped down from the board and joined the company’s advisory committee in April.
Cronin Group acquired OpenIOLabs a Cambridge-based supplier of hardware and software in November 2017. It sold a non-core part of the business in January.
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