Elonics eyes set-top market in £4m deal

A TECHNOLOGY company whose backers include Sir Tom Farmer and Brian Souter is on course to break even by the end of the year as it closes in on a fresh £4 million funding deal to help grow its product portfolio.

David Srodzinski, founder and chief executive of Livingston-based Elonics, said the "best is yet to come" as he revealed that the cash call should be finalised within the next two months.

The Welshman was speaking following the production release of the company's latest device – a multi-band tuner module that can be used to receive digital TV and radio broadcasts.

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The new product is a development of an existing device that should open up even bigger markets to the firm.

It is set to feature in a range of consumer devices, including digital set-top boxes, portable media players and in-car television units.

Srodzinski, who has previously worked at Edinburgh-based Wolfson Microelectronics and Intel, said the company was also benefiting from the worldwide digital switchover.

"We are seeing the switchover take place in the UK and the same thing is happening all over the world," he noted.

"One of the advantages of our technology is that is works with all these differing standards – there is a very wide market base opportunity.

"We are shipping devices and have regional sales offices. The company is very revenue driven but cost conscious like anyone else.

"We are looking to see if we can break even towards the end of this year."

Elonics, which was founded in 2003 and has some 20 staff, designs, develops and markets its DigitalTune platform. Manufacturing is undertaken by third parties in the US and EU.

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Srodzinski said the release of the new tuner chip was "a stepping stone" into the set-top box market, where unit sales exceed 100 million a year.

"This is a market tens times bigger than for the existing product. A company like ours relies on a portfolio of devices There are some excellent products planned for the future and the best is yet to come."

Elonics raised its first equity funding – some 2.5m – during 2008. Investors included high-profile businessmen Farmer and Souter, Perth-based investment house Braveheart and Scottish Enterprise.

Asked if the company may pitch for further investment beyond the current round, Srodzinski said: "We believe that with the plans we have today we don't necessarily have to (tap investors again], but there are a lot of new exciting opportunities where we could rapidly expand."