A syndicate of over $1.5m (£1m) of London Business Angels private investors, including Wren Capital, was led by Qi3 Accelerator, with a further $0.9 million (£0.6m) invested by the Angel Co Fund. Several additional investments made up the remainder. This deal will allow the development and commercialisation of a next generation WIFI and 4G Network applications. The deal is the latest in a series of ‘hard technology’ investments by the Qi3 Accelerator team.
Blu Wireless’s baseband technology uses a flexible parallel processing architecture to efficiently support the complex modulation schemes required for emerging multi-gigabit wireless communication standards. The IP is currently optimised for chipsets used in both advanced WiFi and 4G small cell deployments, and can be simply scaled to support the anticipated future standards as they move to
20Gbps and beyond.
The Bristol, UK based firm is already working with several of the world’s leading semiconductor and system companies in these markets.
The IP will be sold under license agreement to chipset manufacturers that compete in, or want to enter, markets that exploit the unlicensed 60GHz frequency band.
Blu Wireless’s CEO, Henry Nurser commented: “With the completion of this funding round, we will be executing our plan to become the leading supplier of baseband system IP to manufacturers in the 60GHz sector.
“Qi3 Accelerator did a great job to pull this large syndicate together and the Angel Co-Fund’s involvement was also vital to the transaction.”
Tim de Vere Green and Nathan Hill of Qi3 Accelerator led the transaction, alongside Rajat Malhotra of Wren Capital. Tim de Vere Green will join the Blu Wireless board.
Tim de Vere Green said: “This is a very exciting sector and we are convinced Blu Wireless will be a global leader in 60GHz technology. We believe 60GHz applications in both consumer WiGig and telecoms backhaul are set for rapid growth, and Blu Wireless is already working with several of the world’s leading semiconductor companies in these markets. The thorough due diligence we have conducted has given us great confidence in the team’s technical and management capabilities, as well as their deep knowledge of their target markets.”
Advisors to the transaction included solicitors Harrison Clark Rickerby, Roxburgh Milkins and Geldards.
For further information about this transaction please contact:
Henry Nurser, Blu Wireless Technology: henry.nurser@bluwirelesstechnology.com, 07785 366922
Tim de Vere Green, Qi3 Accelerator: tim.deveregreen@qi3.co.uk, 07710 031781
Rob Ashwell, Publitek (PR): rob.ashwell@publitek.com, 01225 470 000
About Blu Wireless Technology:
Blu Wireless is a leader in 60GHz intellectual property. The company designs and licences its technology for inclusion on 802.11ad next generation WiFi and 4G mobile network backhaul chipsets.
www.bluwirelesstechnology.com
About Qi3 Accelerator:
Qi3 Accelerator supports early-stage technology companies through financial investment and assistance in commercialising their products. Experienced investors Nathan Hill, Paul Anson and Tim de Vere Green lead the Qi3 Accelerator team, supported by investment
analysis and other skills sourced from the Qi3 network. We are fortunate to work with a Technical Panel formed from a number of trusted Associates, who offer extensive business, technical and engineering expertise.
www.qi3.co.uk/accelerator/
About Wren Capital:
Wren Capital provides seed funding for businesses at an early stage of development (including pre-revenue) in exchange for an equity stake. We are looking for bright, driven, talented people with innovative ideas for new businesses. We believe that passion, innovation and
people with great ideas slaving away in bedrooms and garages should be supported! We think of ourselves as ideas and people driven rather than sector-focused.
www.wrencapital.co.uk
About the Angel Co-Fund:
Angel CoFund is a privately run fund that works alongside groups of business angels to invest in high growth small and medium sized businesses across the UK, directly providing funding as well as encouraging the expansion of the business angel market.
Backed by the new Business Bank and the Government’s Regional Growth Fund, the £100m fund is able to make initial investments of between £100,000 and £1 million into businesses, alongside syndicates of business angels. To date the fund has supported 32 companies providing over £11 million in direct investment alongside £40 million from business angels.
www.angelcofund.co.uk
For further information about the Angel CoFund contact:
Cordelia Meacher, FieldHouse Associates
Cordelia@fieldhouseassociates.com / 07961 311080
About London Business Angels:
London Business Angels (LBA) is one of Europe's leading Angel Investment Networks. We connect innovating fast-growth technology companies to equity finance through our membership of experienced angel investors. Operating since the early 1980s, LBA has the longest track record in the business.
www.lbangels.co.uk