PureLifi raises $2m ahead of latest product launch

Edinburgh technology spin-out PureLiFi is gearing up for the launch of its latest product that uses light instead of radio waves to transmit data.

Harald Haas, co-founder of Edinburgh-based PureLifi

The company, co-founded by chief executive Harald Haas, is to unveil its LiFi-X “dongle” at the Mobile World Congress trade show in Barcelona.

Its launch follows a funding round of more than $2 million (£1.4m) for the firm, which was spun out from the University of Edinburgh in 2012.

PureLifi was valued at more than £14m last year after raising £1.5m from a group of investors led by angel network London & Scottish Investment Partners. The funding round, managed by finance boutique Quest Corporate, also brought in support from the Scottish Investment Bank and Old College Capital, the University of Edinburgh’s investment arm.

LiFi-X is the third generation of PureLiFi product and consists of an access point that connects to any LED light and a “dongle” the size of a business card that can be operated from USB-enabled mobile devices.

Haas said: “It’s exciting that so many of the tech giants are now engaging directly with LiFi through PureLiFi technologies. The miniaturisation and world’s first integration of high-performance LiFi in a dongle is ground-breaking progress towards a LiFi connected world.

“We have witnessed rumours that Apple is investigating ‘LiFi-Capabilities’ in their latest iOS 9.0. I am excited that we have exceeded our technical roadmap, and with LiFi-X we can develop large-scale pilots. We now have a rail-track technology for the lighting industry to develop exciting and new business models around light as a service.”