A high-potential start-up company specialising in the growing field of photonics is to create 33 high-skilled jobs in Cork, rising to 50 jobs by 2009. It is anticipated exports in the region of €5.4m will result from the investment in EMF, which is supported by Enterprise Ireland.
The project, announced this morning in Cork by the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Micheál Martin is also supported by a local group of investors based in Cork. Venture capital has been secured from 4th Level Ventures. The company will be promoted by Mike Robinson, Jim Dixon and Glyn Jones, former senior management executives with major UK instrumentation companies.
EMF specialises in the development, manufacture and marketing of technologically advanced equipment called Metal Organic Chemical Vapour Deposition (MOCVD) machines.
MOCVD machines are used to deposit very thin layers of chemicals on wafer substrates, which are then used in solar cells, laser diodes, LEDs and other photonic devices. Some of these technologies, in turn, cross our everyday paths in such things as traffic signals and mobile phone back-lighting.
The world market for MOCVD machines is estimated to be worth some US$200m (€165m), and is currently supplied by a small number of large players.
Photonics, the field that EMF operates in, is the technology of generating and harnessing light. The science includes light emission, transmission, amplification and detection by lasers, fibre optics and electro-optical instrumentation. It is an industry linked with some of today’s most dynamic, high-growth markets, including genomes and proteomics research, and has become a key provider of enabling technologies for all of these markets.
Mike Robinson of EMF commented: “We in EMF have ambitious plans for this company. EMF’s new machines ensure clients will experience increased product output, improved yields, a reduction in process downtime, and reduced operating costs, thereby giving us a distinct competitive advantage over our larger competitors.”
By John Kennedy
