A Glasgow-based high-tech start-up has appointed a star Silicon Valley academic to its board, signalling a new focus on the North American market for its "wearable" micro-LED displays.
Dr Tom Baer, director of the Stanford Photonics Research Center, professor of applied physics at Stanford University in California and a visiting professor at Strathclyde University, will join mLED as a non-executive director.
mLED, a spin-out from Strathclyde University's Institute of Photonics, specialises in micro light-emitting diode displays which can be used in eye-level and near-to-eye displays in consumer electronics products, binoculars and rangefinders.
The displays can also be used in smart watches and so-called augmented reality devices, such as the Google Glass headset which allows information - such as directions from a satnav device - to be superimposed close to the eye.
Founded in 2010, mLED has so far raised $2 million (£1.19m) in investment and has already made sales in Europe, North America and Asia.
The company's signature micro-LED emitters are one-fifth of the diameter of a human hair, meaning that display screens made from them have higher resolution and clarity than conventional LED technology.
The company claims its micro-LED displays are around 30 times brighter than competing technologies (important for outdoor use in bright sunlight) and require one-tenth of the power, saving battery life.
mLED chairman Nick Kuenssberg said that Baer's extensive experience of hi-tech start-ups and Silicon Valley contacts would be an important strategic asset for the company. "Like everything in life, who you know is as important as what you know," said Kuenssberg. "This appointment is a huge vote of confidence in the company."
Although the company's annual turnover is currently in the "tens of thousands of pounds", according to Kuenssberg, that is projected to reach up to $200m annually (£120m) by 2020, with the US, Korea, Italy, Germany and France being seen as leading markets.
The company expects to announce its first major contract with a significant global player later this summer. Although unwilling to name the customer, Kuenssberg revealed that mLED is in discussion with companies such as Google, Microsoft, Apple, Philips and other blue-chip players.
Kuenssberg added that the prospects for the company were excellent as mLED has only one major competitor developing similar products on a commercial basis, the Californian company LuxVue which was recently acquired by Apple for $400m (£238m).
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article