mLED executives

Strathclyde University, UK, has secured a spin-out deal to form a company called mLED. The firm will pioneer the future advancement of microLED arrays, a technology that was developed in the university's Institute of Photonics which could find uses in applications such as neuroscience, microscopy and communications.

Micro-pixellated LEDs or microLEDs are devices that are made up of thousands of tiny emitters producing light in a compact and integrated package. Unlike other micro-display technologies, microLEDs are dense arrays of miniature light sources which are pattern programmable and do not require a plethora of external components, such as optics and switching matrices, to modulate the light pattern, thereby making them more compact and efficient.

Braveheart Investment Group led the £150,000 funding round into mLED, investing via both the Strathclyde Innovation Fund (SIF) and the Alpha EIS Fund. Scottish Enterprise's Scottish Seed Fund also participated in the round.

"There are only a few companies in the world that have recognized the opportunity and demonstrated capability in this area," said Jim Bonar, chief executive of mLED. "MicroLEDs have particularly strong potential for evolving life science markets such as neuroscience and for the emerging telecoms market of pico-projectors, as well as for printing, microscopy and next-generation general lighting arrangements. The power density, versatility and compactness of microLEDs makes them ideally suited for these applications."