Nano ePrint Ltd, a North West company pioneering planar nano-electronics, has announced the capture of two major new sources of financial support.

The company, a spin out from the University of Manchester, has finalised an equity funding round of £350k from lead investor MTI, and also secured a £230K Grant for Research and Development from the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA).

Grant for Research and Development, is part of Solutions for Business, the Government's package of publicly funded business support designed to help companies start and grow. It is funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) (see notes to editors for more information).

The injection of fresh capital will provide the funds to further develop Nano ePrint’s unique printed programmable logic architecture, and complements other venture investment and grant funding raised by the company to commercialise its innovative approach to printed electronics.

MTI’s investment has been made via the UMIP Premier Fund, designed to accelerate the growth of businesses emerging from The University of Manchester’s 5-star rated academic departments.

Formed in 2006, Nano ePrint’s patented technology dramatically simplifies the printing of integrated circuits, bringing closer to reality the promise of transparent, flexible, ubiquitous electronics.

As well as dramatically simplifying manufacture, Nano ePrint’s nano-scale devices achieve over 10 times the performance, and over 100 times the density of conventional printed electronics.

Nano ePrint has also developed the world’s first printed programmable logic devices that allow the low-cost, high-volume manufacture of a generic circuit design, which can then be customised as required.

Scott White, Chief Executive Officer of Nano ePrint, commented: “This exceptional grant highlights the huge market potential of our printed programmable logic architecture. We are grateful for the support of MTI and the NWDA in further developing this groundbreaking technology.”

Ernie Richardson, Managing Partner of MTI, and a non-executive director on the Board of Nano ePrint said: “This is an excellent example of the kind of investment that the UPF fund is focused on; world class research from the University of Manchester, combined with input from serial technology entrepreneur Scott White, to create a company with mould breaking potential.

“We are delighted; through making this grant award the NWDA has recognised the major potential of Nano ePrint.”

Mark Hughes, Executive Director of Economic Development, NWDA said: “The NWDA Grant for Research and Development is another example of the Agency’s commitment to developing the very best technologies in the region.

Mark continues: “We recognise that the technology developed by Nano ePrint at The University of Manchester has world beating potential. Our aim is to take that potential to the next stage by helping the company develop initial prototypes.”

The NWDA is playing a crucial role in response to the current economic downturn, with a number of actions being taken to meet the needs of businesses during these financially challenging times.