University of Edinburgh spinout Singular Photonics, a developer of SPAD-based image sensors, has raised $2.15 million to accelerate development of a new generation of sensors.
The funding round was led by ACF Investors, with participation from Wren Capital, Cambridge Angels, Scottish Enterprise, QEG and Old College Capital (OCC), the University of Edinburgh’s venture investment fund.
The investment will be used to scale engineering capacity and speed time-to-market for new image sensors capable of advancing new applications in markets ranging from machine vision, industrial automation and physical AI to scientific discovery and medical imaging.
As the company’s sensors become increasingly capable of understanding the information they capture, they can enable smaller, faster and more efficient systems that meet the growing demands of edge computing and AI-driven applications.
The company also announced the appointment of Dipesh Patel, former CTO of global semiconductor giant Arm, to its board, following December’s announcement of a collaboration with Renishaw, a global leader in microscopy, metrology and analytical instrumentation.
Dr Patel said:
Singular Photonics is transforming image sensors from passive imaging devices into intelligent sensing platforms. SPADs have long been viewed as highly sensitive photon-counting devices, but Singular is showing the world that a far greater opportunity is now emerging, and I’m looking forward to helping the company capitalise on that opportunity. ”
Singular Photonics span out of the University of Edinburgh’s School of Engineering in 2025, co-founded by Professor Robert Henderson with two former lab members, Dr Aravind Venugopalan, now Chief Technical Officer and Dr Neil Finlayson, now Applications Scientist at the company, along with CEO Shahida Imani.
Professor Henderson designed the first SPAD image sensor on a silicon complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) chip, technology that is now integrated into 170 different smartphone models.
Katharine Fox, Head of Investment at OCC, said:
We're pleased to continue to invest into our spinout Singular Photonics, as they bring their on-chip computation to wider customer markets. Their pioneering optical sensor technology is a step-change in the levels of precision sensing currently available. We look forward to seeing how their continued push on technical innovation and commercial traction accelerates development capabilities and impact for their downstream customers. "
CEO Shahida Imani said:
This has been a phenomenal year for Singular Photonics. This oversubscribed round means we can respond faster – expanding our sensor portfolio and bringing new features to market on our customers’ timelines, not just our own. ”
