Investment deal to help Microbritt drive global sales
AHIGH-TECH North East manufacturer is set to create jobs and scale up production after sealing a £400,000 investment deal.
Newcastle-based Microbritt has developed a precision service which micro-manufactures products from brittle materials such as glass, silicon, polymers and ceramics.
The business, which was spun out of Newcastle University in 2021, has developed a patented process for the production of high value prototypes and complex products which are created from brittle materials.
Microbritt’s tech has can be used in a number of sectors including semiconductors, healthcare, photonics and defence – and the company is engaged with customers across these sectors.
The team is also working with key partners on an Innovate UK funded project, called PathoScout, to explore the use of microfluidics to monitor and treat agricultural crop diseases.
Now the business is set to scale up its work after raising £400,000 in an investment round led by the North East Innovation Fund, supported by the European Regional Development Fund and managed by Northstar Ventures, alongside Business Investors Group and angels.
CEO Carl Dale said Microbritt will use the investment to scale its production capacity, expand the sales and engineering team and invest in research and development.
He said: “It’s amazing to see how the company has gone from strength to strength over the past few years – we started as a small spinout but we’re now scaling fast.
“This has been due to the fact, as a manufacturing service, we help to solve our customers’ problems and allow them to overcome their technical hurdles to develop their own products – this allowed us to gain customer traction fast and generate revenues within one month of operating.
“This investment will help us to develop a sales team to drive sales to a worldwide audience, alongside scaling our engineering capacity.
“This is a very exciting time for the company.”
Tom O’Neill, investment manager at Northstar Ventures, said: “We are pleased to support Microbritt with further funding, which will enable them to scale up production capacity and invest in the technology and team.
“They have developed a unique, high-value process with applications across many large sectors and we look forward to seeing the business continue to grow in the next stage of their journey.”