The University of Birmingham has made the first investment from its £5m University of Birmingham Spinout Investment fund, to Smart Antenna Technologies, a spinout founded in 2013 to develop a new generation of antenna for smart phones and laptops. Smart Antenna Technologies was founded in 2013 by Dr Sampson Hu, who has been working on the core technology since 2009, while completing his PhD at the University of Birmingham. Dr Hu received support from Alta Innovations, the University’s technology transfer company, which operates an end-to-end training and support service for entrepreneurs at the University. Smart Antenna Technologies is based in Edgbaston, Birmingham and has a separate office in Bath. The company has grown from 3 employees to around 20 in three years.
Smart Antenna's new antenna system combines the separate antennas contained within mobile devices for GPS, WiFi, BlueTooth, G4, and G5. The new single unit antenna provides a considerable saving in space, battery life and cost. The company estimates the demand from the mobile device market will exceed 2 billion units per year, and will be exploiting the substantial opportunities in other markets including the Internet of Things and car antenna systems.
The University of Birmingham Spinout Investment fund was created to provide investment where there is a clear commercial appetite for the technology, the concept or product has passed proof of concept testing and where there is confidence in the management board to deliver to the next stage of planned growth. The funds are part of a £1 million investment raise, which will enable Smart Antenna Technologies to recruit additional engineering staff and complete product development with a major industry partner.
For further information about the University of Birmingham spinout portfolio, or for an interview with Dr Sampson Hu, please contact Ruth Ashton, Communications Manager, on 0121 414 9090, 07989 558 041, or email r.c.ashton@bham.ac.uk.