Former Arm CTO joins board as Scottish semiconductor pioneer doubles sales momentum
Fabless semiconductor developer Singular Photonics has closed an oversubscribed funding round of $2.15 million. Led by ACF Investors, the round included backing from Wren Capital, Cambridge Angels, Scottish Enterprise, Quantum Exponential, and Old College Capital. The capital injection will accelerate the development of the firm’s next-generation single-photon avalanche diode (SPAD) sensors and broaden its product roadmap to satisfy rising market demand.
The Edinburgh University spin-out has already doubled its full-year 2025 sales within the first eight months of 2026, strengthened by new commercial partnerships such as its recent collaboration with precision instrumentation leader Renishaw. The fresh capital will expand engineering capacity and shorten time-to-market for intelligent sensors designed for industrial automation, machine vision, physical AI, medical imaging, and scientific research.
Chief Executive Officer Shahida Imani noted that the oversubscribed round enables the firm to accelerate feature deployment directly inline with customer requirements whilst approaching break-even. Tim Mills, Managing Partner at ACF Investors, highlighted that the sector is transitioning from standard image capture to extracting real-time insights from light, a movement Singular Photonics is well-positioned to lead.
Derek Shaw, Director of Company Funding & Investment at Scottish Enterprise, emphasised the strategic importance of the photonics and semiconductor sector to Scotland’s economy, citing Singular’s potential to scale internationally and create high-value jobs. Chairman Pete Hutton added that existing shareholders fully exercised or exceeded their pre-emption rights, reflecting strong investor confidence in the business’s commercial trajectory.
In parallel with the funding, Singular Photonics appointed Dr Dipesh Patel, former Chief Technology Officer of global semiconductor giant Arm, to its board of directors. Over a 25-year tenure at Arm, Dr Patel held multiple senior leadership roles, ultimately leading the Research and Digital IT divisions. Dr Patel stated that Singular is leading a fundamental shift, moving SPAD technology from traditional photon-counting devices to intelligent sensing platforms.
Standard digital image sensors measure light intensity and are nearing their physical operational limits. In contrast, SPAD-based sensors detect and precisely timestamp individual photons, unlocking data points inaccessible to conventional vision systems. By embedding on-chip computation directly at the detection point, Singular’s image sensors process critical information in real time, serving as key enablers for edge computing and AI-driven applications.
Originating from the laboratory of digital imaging pioneer Professor Robert Henderson, Singular Photonics currently markets its commercialised Andarta and Sirona sensor families globally.
