Smart antennas firm lands €2m to target handset giants

An Edinburgh spin-out that develops 'smart antennas' for mobile phones has secured almost €2 million (£1.6m) of European funding.

Edinburgh-based Sofant is targeting smartphone makers with its antennas. Picture: Contributed

Sofant Technologies is now hoping that the cash injection – awarded under the €3 billion Horizon 2020 SME Instrument programme – will help get its products into handsets made by the likes of Apple and Samsung by 2018.

The firm, founded in 2011 following seven years of research and development at the University of Edinburgh, has designed an antenna with the potential to double battery life and improve connectivity.

Co-founder and chief operating officer Ahmed El-Rayis said: “We call this a smart antenna because it has been designed to seek out the strongest signal and focus on it, rather than the current model that constantly radiates energy in all directions.

“We have been researching and planning this project for ten years to perfect the design. This funding will enable us to take the product to foundry and we’re currently asking for tenders.”

He added: “We’re very excited about this new funding and see it as a real opportunity to impact on the future direction of the global smart phone industry and to create a market-leading company. We aim to have this product available to mobile phone manufacturers by 2018.”

The rapidly-growing market for smart antennas is forecast to be worth more than $2.5bn (£1.7bn) by the end of the decade. As smartphones become more advanced, increased pressure is placed on battery life, with 50 per cent of its charge consumed by the antenna while the screen is off, rising to 80 per cent during a call.

Bernd Reichert, head of the SME Instrument Unit at the European Commission’s Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, said the initiative aimed to support small firms such as Sofant in taking their innovative products to market.

He added: “Sofant’s technology is a prime example of disruptive innovation. They have identified a need in the market within a sector willing to pay for an added value product.”

In 2013, Sofant received equity finance from Old College Capital – the investment arm of the University of Edinburgh – as well as the Scottish Investment Bank and Glasgow-based investors Kelvin Capital and Lancaster Capital.