Braveheart's £2m helps Pyreos make its move on the market

Published on Friday 11 January 2008 09:16

FLEDGLING Edinburgh technology firm Pyreos has received a £2 million investment aimed at helping it bring a range of motion detection products to the commercial market.

The group received the cash from Braveheart, the Scottish technology investor that joined the Alternative Investment Market last March, in partnership with Siemens Technology Accelerator (STA), a subsidiary of German electronics engineering giant Siemens, and the Scottish Venture Fund (SVF).

Pyreos only formed last July and has been granted patented intellectual property rights by Siemens relating to infrared sensors.

The minnow will work closely with Siemens as it looks to bring a range of devices to market.

Pyreos is working towards the release of products targeted at the growing demand for motion detection and infra-red camera and spectroscopy products.

Jeff Wright, the firm's co-founder and chief executive, estimated the global market for such products will be valued at around 500m by 2012.

It's the company's aim to become a leading global supplier of infra-red sensor components based on a unique and patented thin-film pyroelectric infra-red technology that it secured from Siemens.

Environmental and security-related markets are seen as key areas of growth for Pyreos' products, in applications including energy-use monitoring and for use in industrial safety products, such as flame detection.

Mr Wright said: "We have worked closely with Braveheart and STA and SVF to put this round of funding in place, which will enable us to accelerate our company's operations."

He said Pyreos, which is based at the Scottish Microelectronics Centre at the King's Buildings, had held positive talks with potential clients.

So far, Pyreos' development has been backed by Mr Wright and joint co-founders Scott Freeborn, Carsten Giebeler and the STA.

The 2m round of funding will allow Pyreos to expand its technical and commercial operations as well as enabling prototyping and manufacturing development.

Braveheart's chief executive Geoffrey Thomson said: "We were delighted to work with STA and Pyreos, settling the new business in Scotland. The global market for infrared detectors is set to grow considerably, and we are confident that Pyreos will make an important contribution to this market."

Neil Ross, director of Scottish Enterprise's SVF, added: "Pyreos is a great example of how the Scottish Venture Fund, alongside Braveheart and STA, can help grow and retain exciting businesses in Scotland."

And Rudolf Freytag, chief executive at STA, said: "In Scotland we found the ideal mix of strong investors, an excellent management team, and the right high-tech infrastructure to support a new technology company.

"We are confident that the Pyreos technology will make an important difference in the infra-red detector and camera markets."