AntennaWare, a wearable technology company based in Belfast has secured a significant six figure sum following a successful seed funding round led by QUBIS and Techstart Ventures as part of Invest Northern Ireland’s Access to Finance fund.
AntennaWare was founded in 2020 as a spin–out from Queen’s University Belfast (QUB) addresses the need for dedicated, high–performance antenna solutions for wearables, focusing on medical and sports.
Co Founders Dr. Matthew Magill and Dr. Gareth Conway have almost 25 years of experience in the wearable technology sector having conducted extensive research at The Institute of Electronics, Communications and Information Technology (ECIT) part of Queen’s University Belfast. ECIT’s Centre for Wireless Innovation (CWI) is the largest research base in physical layer wireless in the UK and one the most innovative in the world.
Speaking about their technology, Co Founder Dr Matthew Magill commented: “AntennaWare’s patented technology can greatly increase the range and reliability of wearable wireless devices they are integrated into. The wearable devices can transmit further, with less dropouts and using less power, which helps facilitate applications thought previously impossible for medical monitoring, sports and fitness, wireless audio and wireless proximity detection.”
Wearable Technology is one of the most active sectors for investors. The wearables market has been steadily increasing in the past years, with increasing social awareness and various benefits of wearable electronics driving demand.
AntennaWare Co Founder Dr Gareth Conway commented: “We are delighted to partner with QUBIS and Techstart Ventures which has enabled us to commercialise our world–leading antenna research. We are confident our antenna technology will be the go–to solution in the exciting and fast growing wearable technology sector.”
Hal Wilson, Partner at Techstart Ventures commented: “Gareth and Matt have identified an opportunity to commercialise their unique technology in a number of interesting and growing markets. We are pleased to become their investment partner to help them realise their ambitions.”
Oisin Lappin, Corporate Finance Manager at QUBIS added: “We’re delighted to support AntennaWare as the company takes it next steps in the market. Wireless connectivity is an increasingly common feature in our everyday lives. AntennaWare has an exciting patented technology with application in a variety of markets including healthcare and sports.”