Heronic Technologies, an Imperial College London spinout specialising in artificial intelligence (AI) accelerator architectures, has won the pitch event we organised in September on behalf of ROHM Semiconductor. Thanks to Heronic's success at the event, the company will now enter into commercial discussions with the Japanese chip giant.
Heronic’s proprietary technology enables the customisation of chips for specific AI applications, optimising efficiency and performance beyond the capabilities of generic architectures.
The company's innovative approach to chip architecture captured the interest of ROHM’s innovation and strategy teams, who are keen to enhance their development of power semiconductor materials and explore next-generation technologies including AI, photonics, spintronics and quantum solutions.
The reverse pitch event, which took place at Asia House in London, featured seven cutting-edge UK companies. Each took a turn to describe how their technologies could support ROHM’s business objectives, followed by a Q&A session and networking opportunity. We organised the event as part of the UK-APAC Tech Growth Programme, which helps high-growth technology companies to explore and secure commercial opportunities in the APAC region.
You can catch a recap of the whole event below:
Alexander Montgomerie-Corcoran, CEO of Heronic Technologies (right), commented: “We’re honoured that ROHM selected us as the winning company in this highly competitive reverse pitch. Our technology significantly boosts the energy efficiency and performance of AI and machine learning applications.
“ROHM has a global reputation for innovation in the electronics industry and we’re excited about the opportunity to integrate our AI-driven solutions into its advanced semiconductor products.”
Koji Taniuchi, General Manager of ROHM’s Technology Innovation Team (left), said: “We’re constantly on the lookout for startups with the cutting-edge technology to create new businesses over the next 10-20 years. We’re particularly focusing on exploring technologies that integrate optoelectronics and spintronics.
“During this pitch event, seven startups with excellent technologies and ideas gathered from across the UK and presented their proposals to us. Each was outstanding, making it difficult to choose, but we selected Heronic as we expect its bespoke AI design environment to accelerate our digital strategy.”
The other companies participating in the reverse pitch were Finchetto, Paragraf, Quantum Motion, Qontrol, Vector Photonics, and Wave Photonics.
Jeremy Shaw, leader of the UK-APAC Tech Growth Programme, congratulated Heronic Technologies: “These events are designed to showcase the very best of UK innovation to APAC’s top industry players. We’re thrilled that Heronic Technologies has earned this exciting opportunity to engage with one of Japan’s most respected semiconductor companies.”
The UK-APAC Tech Growth Programme, which we deliver on behalf of the UK Government, helps high-growth technology companies explore and expand into the APAC region. Participating companies benefit from market entry guidance, business development support and connections to potential partners and customers. The programme covers 11 markets including Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and Australia.
We also recently published a report exploring semiconductor opportunities in Northeast Asia, identifying key prospects for UK firms in Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. You can download it for free, here.
For more information and to apply to join the UK-APAC Tech Growth Programme, click here.