Funding round for eoSemi

Yorkshire-based semiconductor company eoSemi has secured £3 million in an investment round led by early-stage investors NESTA and Capital-E.

Enterprise Ventures, an existing backer of eoSemi, also invested through its RisingStars Growth Fund II and South Yorkshire Investment Fund.

Ian Macbeth, eoSemi's chief executive, says the fundraising will help the company make the transition from a start-up into a commercial enterprise 'facing a tremendous global market'.

The company has developed an all-silicon replacement for quartz crystals, which are still used in the newest consumer and industrial devices as well as in wristwatches. In theory, this should help reduce the cost and size of such devices, as well as the number of parts required to make them work.

Founded by four executives from the semiconductor industry, eoSemi has received financial support from its part-time finance director Alastair Walmsley.