MATTHEW BYATT
Managing Partner
Leuven, Belgium 12th May 2022: Pharrowtech, a leader in the design and development of millimeter wave (mmWave) hardware and software for next-generation wireless applications, today announces the closure of its €15 million Series A funding round to continue developing next-generation 60 GHz wireless RF transceivers and antenna technology.
This investment round was led by Innovation Industries, a highly reputed deep tech investor based in the Netherlands, and joined by Seed Round investors imec.xpand, Bloc Ventures, and KBC Focus Fund. The funding will enable Pharrowtech to accelerate deployment of its recently launched 60 GHz CMOS Radio-Frequency Integrated Circuit (RFIC) PTR1060, and phased array antenna Radio-Frequency Module (RFM) PTM1060 for 5G unlicensed fixed wireless access, wireless infrastructure, and consumer applications. The capital raised will also be utilized to ensure best in class customer support, expanding Pharrowtech’s operations in the United States, and growing its engineering and business teams to drive the product roadmap and fuel further growth.
In a world led by digital transformation, high-speed internet connectivity has become a crucial asset. Various economic and geographic factors are leading governments and corporations worldwide to seek solutions that can bridge the digital divide and provide ultrafast connectivity. Pharrowtech delivers a unique solution, offering gigabit-per-second speeds to consumers and businesses wirelessly. The company designs sub-systems for 60GHz licence-free operations. This frequency range is becoming increasingly important for applications such as remote working and learning, augmented and virtual reality, and entertainment and gaming, thanks to its greater capacity and lower latency. Increasingly, network operators are looking at outdoor Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) solutions as the most effective and economical solution to deliver the required gigabit-per-second speeds link to consumers. In parallel, due to the increasing capabilities of 5G radio base stations, mobile operators are deploying millimeter wave solutions to meet the increasing demand of backhaul network architectures for macro and high-density small cell deployments.
Building on imec’s R&D and prototypes, Pharrowtech recently announced the availability of the PTR1060, the world’s first IEEE 802.11ay-compliant CMOS RF chip for indoor and outdoor wireless use cases that supports the full 57 to 71 GHz bandwidth. The company also launched PTM1060 (RFM) phased array antenna modules to provide OEM/ODMs with a ready-to-use 60GHz solution. The integration levels, performance, and capabilities of Pharrowtech’s latest RFIC open the full potential of low-cost, small form factor and low-power FWA deployments, 5G and WiFi infrastructure backhauling, next-generation consumer electronics products, and IoT devices requiring high-speed links. The programming interfaces and tunable features of the chip and antenna allow for optimal integration by equipment makers.
Both products are currently available to select customers and are already being designed-in by a tier-one US equipment vendor. The company is also providing demonstrations and evaluation kits to the consumers and will ramp up the production in Q3 2022.
Wim Van Thillo, CEO and Co-Founder, Pharrowtech says:
“We are grateful for the role Acuity played in our Series A. In particular, Acuity was invaluable during the latter phases of the process where their attention to detail and focused approach were essential to securing successful funding.”
Matthew Byatt, Managing Partner, Acuity Advisors said:
“We are delighted to have assisted Pharrowtech on this key milestone. Pharrowtech is at the leading edge of key connectivity solutions enabling the next technological advances to become reality. We look forward to following Wim and the team’s continued success.”
“We are grateful for the role Acuity played in our Series A. In particular, Acuity was invaluable during the latter phases of the process where their attention to detail and focused approach were essential to securing successful funding.”
WIM VAN THILLO | CEO & Co-Founder
Pharrowtech
Matthew is a Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Acuity and leads the Acuity Advisors’ Deeptech practice.
Matthew has held senior leadership and corporate finance positions with some of the UK’s most successful and influential technology and consultancy companies. Roles with ARM, McKinsey and Cadence have given Matthew an exceptional insight into the world’s most successful businesses and a number of the UK’s eminent start-ups, underpinning his success at Acuity.
Matthew has considerable experience across a broad range of technology sectors throughout the UK, US and Asia, ranging from nanotechnology, semiconductor and cleantech to digital media and internet businesses. It’s experience that has given him a robust, well-developed and international network. Having also run and successfully exited his own business, Matthew has a deep understanding of the financial and emotional aspects of this demanding process, bringing a unique and authoritative perspective to each business sale.
One of Matthew’s strengths is understanding complex technical value propositions, one of the benefits of training as an electronic engineer. He gets to the heart of what drives a company’s value and communicates this persuasively to potential buyers and investors. Matthew understands a buyer’s motivation intuitively and delivers a compelling rationale for why a business sale should be of strategic interest. His insight consistently yields higher deal values and results in great successes for his clients.