Company profile
PhovIR
University of Manchester spin-out developing a near-infrared optical sensor built using silicon chip manufacturing and MEMS techniques to identify materials by their optical signature for consumer and industrial use.
Company overview
Developing chip-scale molecular sensing, PhovIR uses a common MEMS architecture to miniaturise spectroscopy for wearable, autonomous and portable devices. Its MIEYRA platform combines spectral measurements with chemometrics and machine learning to derive information about materials, chemicals, contamination and biological signals. The company reports operational near-infrared beta hardware, with mid-infrared, Raman and multimodal sensing under development. Planned multimodal devices combine Raman with near- or mid-infrared sensing on a single die. The architecture is designed for transfer to commercial semiconductor and MEMS foundries, using established manufacturing and packaging processes rather than requiring standalone laboratory instruments. Target applications include robotics, wearable health monitoring, personal safety, and defence and security. The supplied website identifies PhovIR as a University of Manchester spinout and reports a £4 million seed round co-led by Northern Gritstone and SCVC. It does not specify a UK headquarters address.
Semiconductor activity
Primary capability: MEMS / Sensors. Supply-chain role: Molecular sensing platform developer.
Technologies and capabilities
- MEMS
- Sensors
- Silicon
- Infrared
- Near-infrared spectroscopy
- Mid-infrared spectroscopy
- Raman spectroscopy
- Multimodal sensing
- Interferometry
- Chemometrics
MIEYRA molecular sensing platform; MIEYRA NIR beta hardware; MIEYRA MIR sensing in development; MIEYRA Raman sensing in development; MIEYRA multimodal sensing in development
Markets served
- Robotics and autonomous systems
- Wearable health monitoring
- Personal safety
- Defence and security
- Portable intelligent devices
UK presence
Manchester, North West. Part of the North West cluster.
Research links: University of Manchester spinout.
Funding and transactions
The website reports a £4 million seed round co-led by Northern Gritstone and SCVC.