A creator of synthetic diamonds has raised £882,000 to bring its new technology to market following a successful proof of concept.
Dyman Advanced Materials, based at County Durham’s NETPark, says it will commercialise its polycrystalline diamond technology following third and fourth investment rounds.
The firm will also introduce a premium diamond product, created through technology using extremely high temperatures and intense pressure.
Earlier this year, Dyman – which aims to disrupt the $12bn diamond market – completed a third investment round which included £414,000 secured from angel investors via a joint Newcastle Angel Hub and NorthInvest pitch event and a further £221,000 from UK-wide investors.
And in a fourth round completed at the end of June, the firm raised more than £247,000, including £117,000 from the Regional Angel Investment Accelerator (RAIA) programme and £130,000 from the Newcastle Angel Hub investors. The RAIA programme is funded by Innovate UK and led by the North East Business and Innovation Centre (BIC) and delivered by the Innovation SuperNetwork and North Invest in partnership with the UK Business Angels Association.
Dr Gary Gibson, founder of Dyman, said: “This is an overwhelming amount of money and we are thrilled to be able to continue with our new product development.
“It is very exciting to have such a wide range of investors both from the North East and across the UK, not to mention the RAIA funding – we have a lot of people backing us on this journey.”
Jordan Dargue, head of Access to Finance at Innovation SuperNetwork and board director at NorthInvest, said: “We’ve supported Dyman from the start, and it is so rewarding to see them go from strength-to-strength whilst we work with them.
“Our journey with Dyman has allowed them to secure appropriate investment at every stage of development and I’m excited to see how these third and fourth rounds of investment will allow them to commercialise their PCD and expand their product range further.
“At the SuperNetwork, we work closely with North East businesses to help them grow through innovation, and then once they are ready, we invite them to joint pitch events organised through the Newcastle Angel Hub and North Invest. Dyman are a company that continually uses innovation to scale-up their business and we wish them every success for the future and look forward to continuing our work with them.”
The Newcastle Angel Hub and NorthInvest connect investors with businesses at all stages of growth seeking investment. The Newcastle Angel Hub is delivered by the Innovation SuperNetwork and NorthInvest, which is part-funded by ERDF.
