Elonics on course to raise £4m

Published on Saturday 28 November 2009 12:22

TECHNOLOGY group Elonics, chaired by Wolfson Microelectronics founder David Milne, is on the road to raising about £4 million.

The Livingston semiconductor company, which has started shipping its first products to customers for commercial production, has already signed up a lead investor to back its cash call.

David Srodzinski, Elonics' founder and chief executive, is holding a series of meetings with prospective investors around the UK, and hopes to complete the process early next year.

The Welshman told Scotland on Sunday that he believed around three quarters of the target had been secured already, but that if the cash call was oversubscribed the company might extend it.

Funding for the company initially came from government grants and investment from staff, but it has now completed three smaller funding rounds since early 2008, raising 3.9m.

The latest fundraising comes as the group is poised for the first commercial sales of its own product, a silicon tuner for television receivers.

Srodzinski, who has previously worked at Wolfson and Intel, is expecting some commercial sales before Christmas, with more product launches next year.

"We've got a lot of exciting opportunities which should bear fruit over the next six months," he said.

Already a 450 million unit a year market, Elonics believes internet streamed television and more advanced mobile phones could more than double the market by 2013.

Elonics plans to use the funds to build its sales force in Taiwan and China, where it has begun hiring staff for further product development.

Milne has told potential investors of his desire to float Elonics in the future.

Even before he left Wolfson at the start of 2007 he complained that most Scottish technology companies "sell out too quickly" rather than exploiting ideas fully.