QChip wins technology investment

July 07 2004
Rhodri Evans, The Western Mail

A NANOTECHNOLOGY company has raised almost £500,000 with help from big-namebackers to bring cutting edge technology developed in Wales to the marketplace.

Cardiff-based Q Chip has attracted early stage funding from investors including Jon Moulton of venture capitalists Alchemy Partners and E-Synergy, a City of London financial institution which talent-spots firms with exciting growth prospects.

Q Chip's technology uses tiny capillaries etched in wafers to precisely create micro and nanoparticles.

By using many of these wafers in tandem the company can create particles on a commercial scale and avoid high levels of waste associated with other production techniques.
The technology has applications in the food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries.
For example, the technology can be used to create tiny particles used in inhaled drugs and to engineer particles to ensure that drugs reach their intended target in the body.
Backer Jon Moulton said, "One of the things that attracted me to Q Chip is the potential of the technology to improve drug delivery. Many drug therapies are shelved because they can't be delivered to the right part of the body at the right dosage.

"Q Chip technology allows the development of "smart therapeutics", for example inhaled versions of treatments such as insulin for diabetics that currently have to be injected."
Founding director Mark Barry said, "We're thrilled that two investors with such formidable reputations share our vision for the future of Q Chip. Both E-Synergy and Jon Moulton consider hundreds of hi-tech business propositions every year and back only the very best."

"Their decision to invest in us is a huge vote of confidence in the technology developed here in Wales by Professor David Barrow at Cardiff University's School of Engineering," said co-director Dr Jo Daniels.

"What makes this particularly exciting is that it is one of the first in the critical field of convergence involving nanotechnology, materials science, precision engineering, chemistry, and biology," said Andrew Davies, Minister for Economic Development.

"It is further proof that our universities are yielding world-class business propositions."
Q Chip was advised in the deal by Nicola McNeely of Cardiff solicitors Capital Law and Ritchie Tout of PWC, Cardiff.