Dear , 

Cambridge CMOS Sensors is a spin-out from University of Cambridge and is exploiting innovative patented technology jointly developed in collaboration with the University of Warwick. The company aims to be a technology provider of CMOS MEMS structures such as basic and smart micro-hotplates, semiconductor sensors (gas sensors, mechanical sensors, temperature sensors & flow sensors) and nano-MEMS and nanosensors and a leading manufacturer of mid-infrared emitter.
CMOS MEMS  platform technology provides a unique silicon platform for CCMOSS’ Metal Oxide (MOX) gas sensors and enables sensor miniaturisation, significantly lower power consumption and ultra-fast response times.
The Micro-hotplates are suspended in a high reliability membrane and act as heater elements for a metal oxide based sensing material. The material resistance will change due to reactions to selected gases and concentrations at temperatures between 200°C to 400°C. Through enabling very fast cycle times, advanced temperature modulation techniques can be used to ensure maximum sensitivity, stability and gas selectivity and minimise measurement times.

Advanced algorithms support the MOX gas sensors family, for maximum selectivity, drift compensation and for self-calibration, enabling easy and timely integration into a wide range of applications.
The Company’s CMOS MEMS platform technology, is also applied to infrared sources and detectors. These are designed specifically for high performance, high stability gas and materials sensing, as well as other applications. The infrared sources and detectors are used in a range of applications, including Non-Dispersive Infrared (NDIR) gas sensing, thermometer, spectroscopy, and Attenuated Total Reflectance (ATR) sensors for analysis of liquids and solids.

More detail can be found on the company's website here.

Progress since the last funding round

Over the last year the Company has made significant progress in terms of its organisational,  technical and commercial development

• Chemical Gas sensor product performance enhanced - CCMOSS manufactures the smallest gas sensor in the world
• Sensing materials development brought in-house –  a key new company capability 
• Enhanced infrastructure and facilities (gas testing, software, lab facilities) 
• Infrared component enhancement 
• Significant development of high volume manufacturing processes & supply chain
• Core material IP now owned by CCMOSS 
• Greatly enhanced sales pipeline - worldwide distribution network developed
• The Order book is currently over a hundred customers including three large Asian mobile phone platforms. Initial sales have already been made

Current Funding requirement

Recent progress has strengthened the technological position of the company and key customer engagement remains strong.  The current funding round will provide capacity for the company to deliver significant volume sales within a reasonable timescale whilst advancing the R&D in two critical areas

• The development of a digital multi-gas sensor, considered key for the company’s success
• IR detector development

R&D spend in 2016 will be significantly less than that of the current year. 

If the sales develop as hoped in the next twelve months the company will likely need another funding round to provide the working capital needed to support these significant orders. 

Investment Case

We remain convinced that CCMOSS is developing a game-changing technology platform in the field of sensors, and this belief has been strengthened by the company’s recent achievements.  The technology has multiple applications but even the opportunities presented by the early consumer targets could be very large. We feel that once gas sensors are seen to succeed in one or two mobile phone platforms they will become as ubiquitous as cameras in mobile phones. We are reassured by the fact that the founders have extensive experience in this technology and, as importantly, have experience of founding and taking other university start-ups to successful financial exits.

We look forward to early breakthroughs being achieved in the sales pipeline. 

Management

Nat Edington, CEO, spent 7 years as VP and General Manager at Wolfson Microelectronics, managing largest revenue businesses, in excess of $100M. Previous roles include Managing Director, Business Development, Marketing and Engineering Management roles in technology companies ranging from SMEs to global players. 

Florin Udrea, Founder & CTO, has over 20 years of experience in smart technologies, microsensors, MEMS, and power devices. He has extensive track records in working with start-up companies from the University of Cambridge. For example, he is one of the two founders of CamSemi, a very successful company dedicated to energy-efficient power ICs and power management. He is also a Professor of Semiconductor Engineering at Cambridge University and is an inventor of more than 70 patents. Florin Udrea has been a consultant with several leading edge companies in the field of sensors and power electronics.

Julian Gardner, Founder & Chief Scientist, is a Professor of Electronic Engineering and Director of Cognitive & Neural Systems Centre at Warwick University & also a Senior Fellow in Cambridge University. He is Head of the Microsensors and Bioelectronics Laboratory with 25 years of experience in microsensors, signal and data processing & micro/nanoengineering. Prof. Gardner has been a consultant with several start-ups in microsensors, such as AlphaMOS (France), Nanotecture Ltd UK), Cyrano Sciences (USA), Health & Safety Executive (UK), but also Hewlett-Packard (USA), and Honeywell (USA). Prof. Gardner is also a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering (UK).

Foysol Chowdhury, R&D Director of Projects, has over 20 years industrial experience in integrated circuits designs gained from Marconi Defence Systems, LSI Logic, Micron Technology Inc., and more recently worked as a Technical Lead, with Cambridge Semiconductor Ltd. (CamSemi), from early stage of the company start-up till a very successful first product launch. He held a number of post-doctoral positions at various universities and recently employed as a Senior Research Fellow, at the University of Warwick.

Simon Stacey, VP Engineering & Operations, joined from Cambridge Silicon Radio (CSR), 20 years semiconductor experience, with particular expertise in product engineering and advanced packaging. Simon has key relationships with Asian high volume, low cost suppliers. 

Paul Wilson, Director of Product Marketing, joined from Xaar, and was previously at CSR, Wolfson Microelectronics, Freescale Semiconductor and Philips in a range of senior product management and application roles. 

This financial promotion is issued by Parkwalk Advisors Limited (Parkwalk), which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.  Investments referred to in this newsletter are not suitable for all investors.  Interested parties are strongly recommended to seek specialist financial and tax advice before investing in any product.  Capital is at risk and investors may not get back the full amount invested. Tax treatment depends on the individual circumstances of each investor and may be subject to change. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results, and the value of investments may go down as well as up. Projections and forecasts are also not a reliable indicator of future performance. Investments in small and unquoted companies carry a higher risk than many other forms of investment. Any investment in a Parkwalk product must only be made on the basis of the terms of the full Information Memorandum. Parkwalk is not able to provide advice as to the suitability of investing in any product.