The award follows a multimillion-pound investment in PragmaticIC Semiconductor. Northeast Development Capital Fund and Finance Durham Fund managed by Maven invest as part of the recently announced $50 million funding drive.
Maven Capital Partners has won the Deal of the Year Award (deal size above £10 million) at the Insider Media Northeast Dealmakers Awards, taking place in Newcastle on 29 September. This comes after Maven’s successful £2.3m investment in electronics manufacturer PragmatIC Semiconductor via the Northeast Development Capital Fund and the Finance Durham Fund. The two funds have invested £1.3 million and £1 million respectively, and was part of PragmatIC’s recently announced $50 million funding, which brings total investment in the company to over $200 million.
The deal was shortlisted in the category alongside six other major transactions, beating several other significant UK private equity firms. PragmatIC is a world leader in ultra-low-cost flexible electronics. Its flexible integrated circuits are thinner than a human hair and can be invisibly embedded in objects, enabling innovators to create novel solutions to everyday problems that are not practical with conventional electronics. Its patented technology is being used by a growing base of global companies across diverse markets, including consumer goods, retail, healthcare, pharmaceutical, gaming and security.
PragmatIC has already established a billion-unit fabrication facility at the North East Technology Park (NETPark) in Sedgefield, County Durham, and the business plans to open a new 175,000 ft2 site later this year in Durham, aiming to create 125 new highly skilled scientific jobs in the County over the next twelve months with up to 500 in the next five years.
The funding will be used by the Company to fit out its new site and significantly expand its manufacturing capacity to support the scaling of its microchip production. The capital will also be used for further R&D to continue advancing its ground-breaking technology platform.
Global microchip sales reached £445 billion in 2021 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 10% over the next five years (source: Reuters), driven by demand in the developed economies due to the increased use of Internet of Things (“IoT”) applications.
Michael Dickens, Investment Manager at Maven, said: “This is a fantastic opportunity to support a high-profile tech business with a unique and revolutionary technology at the point of largescale production. PragmatIC has ambitious growth plans, and we are delighted that funding from the NEDCF and FDF will help create a large number of high-tech jobs in the local area and a new manufacturing facility in County Durham. PragmatIC has developed disruptive technology with huge commercial potential due to the large addressable market and the increasing global demand for microchips.”