QPT gains admission to the Silicon Catalyst Incubator

QPT will have direct access to the products and services of the Silicon Catalyst comprehensive ecosystem of In-Kind Partners and a wealth of industry expertise through the advisor and investor network.

QPT is a semiconductor start-up company with a vision to help the world save energy through the development of IP that can revolutionise power electronics systems, radically improving efficiency and performance.

The company has developed new approaches to controlling transistors with very high-speed GaN transistor drivers with picosecond timing precision (low jitter isolation) and digital control loops (based on a novel ADC architecture) combined with converter topologies drawing on RF techniques and understanding of power transistor device physics. The resulting precision timing and high-speed operation provides ultra-low loss switching for motor drives, reducing losses by up to 80% which results in less heat, less cooling, less weight and greater capacity.

Silicon Catalyst has built an ecosystem of unrivalled support for semiconductor start-ups, granting privileged access to EDA design tools, silicon foundry runs and intellectual property. The incubator provides networking, access to finance and expert business acumen to successfully launch and to drive growth. This announcement highlights the regional importance and focus from Silicon Catalyst for innovative semiconductor enterprises based in the UK.

Commenting on the news, QPT Founder and CEO Rob Gwynne said, “Our acceptance into the Silicon Catalyst programme is a huge endorsement for our mission to save energy and underlines the importance of our products in the power electronics industry. Electric Motor Driven Systems (EMDS) consume 45% of the world’s energy, and yet their efficiency at typical operating speeds can be as low as 50%. Our new qGaNDrive module has a completely new and patented approach for driving GaN transistors for electric motor driven systems. This fully EMC-screened, turn-key, power module improves power efficiency across the range of operating speeds.”

GaN transistors have always promised the best performance and efficiency, but current design approaches have failed to achieve these benefits because they cannot be driven at the high frequencies needed to deliver them. The patented QPT technology unlocks the potential of GaN to provide significant power savings by enabling GaN transistors to be driven at these high switching speeds. Reducing the energy use of this huge sector could have a real impact on helping reduce climate change.

Sean Redmond, Silicon Catalyst UK Managing Partner, went on to add: “QPT has progressed through each stage of our rigorous screening process, and we’re delighted to welcome Rob and the team into our portfolio. We’re really keen to leverage our experience, network and partners to accelerate QPT in its business growth to become a premier climate tech company.”