Porotech lauded by Government as a top UK exporter
Porotech was named as outstanding in the Digital & Technology category of the Made in the UK, Sold to the World Awards. The company stood out for its AR and AI-powered wearables, with 90 per cent of revenue from exports and partnerships with Amazon, Microsoft and Foxconn.
Cambridge University spin-out Porotech is a previous winner in the Business Weekly Awards. It was founded in 2018 by Dr Tongtong Zhu, Dr Yingjun Liu and Professor Rachel Oliver after a decade of research and development in GaN-related materials and device applications.
The company officially moved out of the university after the first equity investment in January 2020. Whilst researching the use of engineered porosity in GaN (eventually trademarked as PoroGaN®) to access new material functionalities and properties, Porotech discovered that PoroGaN could be applied to many semiconductor-based applications.
It developed a new trademarked technology, DynamicPixelTuning® Technology (DPT®), for microLEDs, using its proprietary PoroGaN material, which enables a single microLED chip to produce any visible colour from a single pixel, including white light. As a result, this technology is set to revolutionise the display and semiconductor industries.
A growing team comprises of 50+ employees based across its Cambridge Headquarters (UK), Hsinchu (Taiwan) and Arizona (USA). In February 2023, it celebrated the opening of a new Cambridge HQ equipped with a new lab and clean room, as well as the open day of its Taiwan site with demonstrations of its technologies.
Now in their third year, the government awards celebrate outstanding small businesses achieving exporting success; from ethical metal recycling to AI-driven EdTech and digital identity, 12 exceptional UK-based SMEs were named as winners of the Department for Business and Trade’s (DBT) competition.
This year’s winners were chosen from hundreds of entries across 12 sector-focused categories, including two new areas - Digital & Technology and Export Services - introduced to reflect evolving global opportunities.
