UK microchip champion launches US operation against Sunak

The Joe Biden Chip Act provides subsidies to technology companies. Credit: Chip Somodeville/Getty Images

This decision is the latest blow to Rishi Nadezhda Sunak for reviving the UK microchip industry. This follows criticism of the prime minister's £1bn semiconductor strategy, dismissed by pundits as unimportant. London also suffered a major setback earlier this year when British microchip giant Arm said it would sail in New York instead.

Pragmatic, launched in 2010, makes low-cost and flexible microchips for use in such devices such as packaging and clothing.

It was backed by the GCHQ-linked National Security Strategic Investment Fund and the Future Breakthrough Fund set up by Mr. Sunak in 2021, as well as the CIA venture fund In-Q-Tel. In total, the company has raised around £143m from investors, including from Arm, the UK's largest chipmaker.

Mr. White said the company could follow Arm's lead and enter the US market. The company is currently raising funds from private donors and investment bank Lazard is known to offer advice but expects to go public the next time it raises funds.

Mr White said Pragmatic always planned to expand in the US beyond the company's two existing UK sites. The company eventually plans to open hundreds of small businesses around the world.

He said Pragmatic is applying for funding under the US Chips Act, which provides $39 billion in manufacturing subsidies and requires legal persons in the USA.< /p>

By contrast, the long-awaited UK chip strategy released in May did not detail how it would support manufacturers.

Mr White said: “In areas where we have a clear advantage in the UK like our technology, if we want this to continue in the UK it will only happen if we don't have an incentive to do so. go build elsewhere.”

He said Pragmatic hopes to keep its UK headquarters, adding: «We would like to keep a critical mass of business in the UK as far as possible.

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«As long as we have the right support and the right intention».

Cambridge-based Paragraf is raising funds to expand its production capacity. Photo: Jason Bye/Jason Bye

Meanwhile, Paragraf, a Cambridge-based tech company developing cutting-edge graphene microchips, has hired Morgan Stanley investment bankers to raise a new tranche. funding.

Industry sources said Paragraf may need to raise hundreds of millions of pounds to expand its production capacity. It has so far raised £67m in funding from investors including Cambridge's Parkwalk and In-Q-Tel. Morgan Stanley declined to comment.

The company, which is also funded by British taxpayers, claims to have made significant breakthroughs in mass-producing ultra-thin graphene chips that can be used to fine-tune customized sensors for electric vehicles and batteries.

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In May, Paragraf chief executive Simon Thomas said the company had applied for funding under the US Chip Act. The company has already launched a US subsidiary, and earlier this year acquired a San Diego-based chipmaker.