back to article Brit bendy chip firm Pragmatic scores funding to boost production

UK-based chipmaker Pragmatic Semiconductor has netted £182 million ($229 million) in finance to expand production, after threatening to quit the country entirely earlier this year over lack of government support. The Cambridge-based biz, which specializes in flexible integrated circuit technology, said it will use the …

  1. elsergiovolador Silver badge

    Threats

    So you can only achieve something in this country when you can threat and your threat can have a substantial impact.

    I guess the small businesses that can't simply move abroad are fine to rot - on one hand hammered by tax man on the other by lack of any support whatsoever.

    We need elections like today.

    1. codejunky Silver badge
      Pint

      Re: Threats

      @elsergiovolador

      "We need elections like today."

      And vote for who? The Judean peoples front or the peoples front of Judea?

      "on one hand hammered by tax man on the other by lack of any support whatsoever."

      Well said

    2. Mike 137 Silver badge

      Alternatively ...

      Sometimes there are govt. 'initiatives' such as one I investigated for funding 'innovation start-ups'. The rules required applicants to be already up and running with a specified minimum turnover and staff complement, so the term 'start-up' was mis-applied. No genuine innovative start-ups could apply.

      1. David 164

        Re: Alternatively ...

        The intuitive I tried to apply for, the people who was running it and the government who set up lack common sense, they wanted me to attend a meeting up in Ipswich because I live in Essex I come under East England and Ipswich which is 2hrs by public transport was their closest offices, instead of one 30 minutes away from me because that office pot of funding was dedicated to people who live in London/South East.

        An that was a 4hr round travel for a 30 minutes introductory meeting, there would have to be other meetings as well.

      2. elsergiovolador Silver badge

        Re: Alternatively ...

        These programmes are a lot of hot air. They are actually targeted to potential voters to reassure them that government is doing something, they are not designed to actually help businesses in any way.

        I participated in a couple of these and it was largely a waste of time.

    3. David 164

      Re: Threats

      Threats is the only thing this government understands. The only thing it is interested in is how to cling on to power.

  2. Bonzo_red

    World leaders in semiconductor innovation

    For a world leading innovator, the company appears to have remarkably few patents - there is a rash of five applications from 2021, perhaps encouraged by the funding round, but on the face of it little else.

    1. elsergiovolador Silver badge

      Re: World leaders in semiconductor innovation

      You don't need to have patents to be innovative.

      Not every company likes to embrace such a broken system and be part of it.

      1. LogicGate Silver badge

        Re: World leaders in semiconductor innovation

        Sometimes it is better to keep the secret sauce secret.

        Patents are good when a VC investor needs to put down checkmarks.

        In real life, if a large multinational breaks one of your patents, then you will need very deep pockets if you want to out-lawyer said multinational. SMEs usually will just have to accept the infringement.

    2. David 164

      Re: World leaders in semiconductor innovation

      Patents means the knowledge of how you are making and producing your technology is in the public domain. Which makes it easier for other companies to replicate it.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: World leaders in semiconductor innovation

      There are several more under the name of Pragmatic Printing, as well as Pragmatic Semiconductor. The company has been in Cambridge (and Sedgefield) for quite a few years, to my knowledge - we worked with them in about 2012. El Reg featured them in 2011 as well:

      https://www.theregister.com/2011/09/12/nfc_powered_screen/

      https://www.theregister.com/2011/11/03/printed_electronics/

    4. HuBo Silver badge
      Thumb Up

      Re: World leaders in semiconductor innovation

      They published their "natively flexible 32-bit Arm microprocessor" in Nature ( https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03625-w ). That's no small feat!

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