Edinburgh image sensor start-up gets £1.6m funding boost after ‘phenomenal’ year
“Companies such as Singular Photonics can play a vital role in transforming our economy by scaling-up, creating high value jobs and competing internationally” – Derek Shaw, Scottish Enterprise
An Edinburgh-based image sensor specialist has closed a $2.15 million (£1.59m) funding round as commercial traction gains momentum.
Singular Photonics said the fresh capital would accelerate development of a new generation of sensors, expanding the company’s product roadmap in response to demand from its growing customer base.
The oversubscribed funding round was led by ACF Investors, with participation from Wren Capital, Cambridge Angels, Scottish Enterprise, Quantum Exponential and Old College Capital.
Singular has already doubled its full-year 2025 sales this year, driven by customer wins spanning multiple sectors, including a recent collaboration with instrumentation leader Renishaw.
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.
CEO Shahida Imani said: “This has been a phenomenal year for Singular Photonics. We’ve already doubled our 2025 sales, we’re approaching break-even, and our customers are telling us exactly what they want from future products.
“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.”
The firm also announced that Dipesh Patel, the former chief technology officer of global semiconductor giant Arm, has joined its board of directors.
Tim Mills, managing partner at ACF Investors, said: “Singular Photonics is an exciting addition to our portfolio, combining world-leading sensor science with genuine commercial promise. The industry is moving from capturing images to generating actionable insights directly from light itself, and Singular has both the technology and the team to lead that shift.”
Derek Shaw, director of company funding and investment at Scottish Enterprise, added: “Scottish Enterprise has supported Singular Photonics' ambition to develop SPAD-based image sensors over several years. The photonics, quantum, sensing and connectivity and semiconductors sector is a key opportunity area for growth for Scotland. Companies such as Singular Photonics can play a vital role in transforming our economy by scaling-up, creating high value jobs and competing internationally.”
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