Dr Peiman Hosseini and Prof Harish Bhaskaran, co-founders of Bodle. Image: Bodle
The company has received investment from Oxford Sciences Innovation and the UK’s Future Fund for its optoelectronic technology.
University of Oxford spin-out Bodle Technologies has secured an extension to its Series A funding round. The round originally took place in 2018, and saw the company raise £6m through contributions from Parkwalk Advisors, Woodford Patient Capital Trust and more.
The recent extension was led by Oxford Sciences Innovation (OSI) with support from the UK government’s Future Fund – a loan scheme for high-growth companies that was launched in early 2020 as part of a £1.25bn support package for UK start-ups during the pandemic.
Bodle is built on optoelectronic research, developing solid-state reflective display technology that uses phase-change materials, allowing users to integrate displays onto different surfaces and objects.
This is useful for devices with poor outdoor readability and high-power consumption, according to the company. The tech can also create highly luminous colours for displays or laser printing of thin films, which could be used in areas such as security, labelling and product customisation.
The company was founded in 2015 by Prof Harish Bhaskaran, Dr Peiman Hosseini and David Fyfe. Hosseini moved from the role of CTO to CEO earlier this year, having led the firm’s technology development for five years.
“While display applications continue to be the mainstay of Bodle’s offering, we have developed a simpler implementation of our technology, which allows printing activated by a laser pulse, removing the requirement for complex electronics and inkjet printing,” Hosseini said.
“This process has several potential applications, including security, labelling and product customisation. This has provided Bodle with a product that has a shorter term to revenue and is ready for scale-up and commercialisation now. Customers are already exploring this technology, with samples available to purchase.”
OSI principal Martin Fiennes, who is also a member of Bodle’s board, said his team sees Bodle as the “next big displays technology”.
