By Kristy Dorsey
An Edinburgh manufacturer of high precision scientific instruments has secured a six-figure funding package to expand its facilities and build its global sales pipeline.
The £750,000 financing round follows the appointment earlier this year of business strategist Alan Faichney to head up UniKLasers, which has established a presence in the photonics market since its foundation in 2013. In addition to his new chief executive role, Mr Faichney also currently chairs the board of two other Edinburgh technology companies, Arrayjet and Advanced Microwave Technologies.
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The money has been raised from existing investor Par Equity and The Scottish Investment Bank, and takes UniKLaser’s total funding since 2017 to £2.3 million. The latest round of financing will help drive expansion into an unspecified £1 billion-plus market that is “directly relevant” to the Scottish firm’s technology.
UniKLasers was founded by Professor Fedor Karpushko, who is now the firm’s chief technology officer. He invented his first laser six years after that of American physicist Theodore Maiman, who devised the world’s first laser in May 1960.
The Scottish company makes high precision scientific lasers for industrial technology markets such as holography, semiconductor quality inspections, spectroscopy, biomedical research and wind power generation. It has also expanded its product portfolio into quantum technologies, developing lasers as the key instrument for quantum clocks and quantum gravimeters.
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Par Equity first invested in UniKLasers in 2017. Paul Atkinson, sponsoring partner at Par Equity, said the investment firm was delighted to continue supporting “one of the very best high-growth technology start-ups”.
“UniKLasers has developed a suite of market-leading lasers from a single platform and continue to be heavily involved with pioneering quantum technologies,” he said. “They are well-placed to achieve their ambitions and I am delighted that Par Equity was able to continue supporting them on this journey.”
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