About
Paragraf

Our Story

Paragraf is the first company in the world to mass produce graphene-based electronic devices using standard semiconductors processes. Using our unique foundry capability, we bring to market differentiated graphene-based electronics as standard products, such as magnetic sensors and biosensors. We solve important problems in a range of applications, including automotive, industrial automation, consumer, diagnostics and agritech.

At Paragraf we are committed to materially impacting critical global challenges by driving a 2D-material revolution in the semiconductor industry, which we believe will facilitate massive improvements in the performance of technologies across all aspects of life.

We’re moving fast!

  • 2017
    Seed investment £2.9M
    Paragraf spins out from
    Cambridge University
    transferring the technology
    from the academic lab into a
    commercial entity
  • 2018
    Development labs open
    First technology prototypes (GHS) delivered
    Paragraf home
    established
    to drive large-scale production of
    graphene-based technologies
  • 2019
    First sensor prototypes tested by customer partners
    Series A investment £16.2M
    First GHS product released
    Awarded £500k
    along with QMUL, to explore using graphene to
    replace rare metal indium
    Awarded £1.7m, 3yr project
    to drive graphene device manufacturing supply chain in UK
  • 2020
    First products delivered to customers
    Elektra Award Winner Paragraf Graphene Hall Sensors (GHS)
    Partners with CERN
    to demonstrate unique properties of
    Paragraf’s new Graphene Hall Effect Sensor
    (GHS)
    Partners with Rolls Royce
    to apply GHS technology to aerospace engines at high temperatures
  • 2021
    Elektra Award Winner for excellence in product design
    Transistor feasibility product PoC design
    Biosensor PoC delivered
    Listed as a key player by IDTechEx
    in CVD graphene for electronics applications
    Announces a new graphene hall effect sensor
    ideally suited to battery applications, such as the electric
    vehicle (EV) sector
    Additional technologies developed
    Biosensor and Solid State Device
  • 2022
    Series B investment £48.5M
    Paragraf USA Inc. established
    Top-ranked overseas company in Taiwan's TIE award
    Business scaling
    Paragraf expanding
    capabilities globally
  • 2023
    2nd UK manufacturing site
    Cardea Bio acquisition
    Accelerating growth in the
    biosensors market

Our Team

Dr Steve Churchhouse

Director

Dr Steve Churchhouse

Director

After achieving a First in Mechanical Engineering, Steve went on to study operations research and control theory at Churchill College, Cambridge. After leaving academia, he gained significant experience within global business. During his 35-year career with Rolls-Royce he has designed real-time, safety-critical control systems, led business units in Europe and the U.S., sat as group director of Corporate Planning, and led the Rolls-Royce Digital Business, which has 24/365 responsibility for mission-critical, real-time, digital engine monitoring services.

Steve currently holds a variety of global non-executive and advisory positions within the science community, including spin-outs from Cambridge University. He acts as a mentor to micro-business start-ups for The Prince’s Trust youth charity.

Alistair Crawford

Chairman

Alistair Crawford

Chairman

Alistair has spent his entire career in the computer and high technology industry, spanning hardware, software, and management of large consulting and systems integration businesses.

For Oracle, he led a $1 billion business with 6,000 staff, which doubled in size under his leadership. He was CEO of two UK-listed public companies: CMG plc, with 12,000 staff and £900m revenue, and Psion plc.

He has been chairman of a number of high technology start-ups, helping them accelerate their growth by developing their teams, raising finance, and winning customers for their products. This has resulted in successful exits.

Alistair has an MA in Jurisprudence from Oxford University.

David Cummings

Director

David Cummings

Director

David is responsible for the EIS co-investment funds at Molten Ventures. He is also an active angel investor in technology companies and a member of Cambridge Angels. Prior to Molten, David worked at Lazard where he was the Managing Director running the TMT group in London.

David is a Member of the Investment Committee of The Royal Society’s Endowment Fund and a Trustee of the Lazard Pension Fund. He is a graduate of Trinity Hall, Cambridge and London Business School.

John Halfpenny

Director

John Halfpenny

Director

John has a successful track record as a Director and CXO of several high-tech and clean-tech companies. He has experience of company level transactions at all stages of the business lifecycle, including start-up to sale, and AIM flotation. His considerable commercial experience includes senior positions within global companies such as ARM and Texas Instruments. His extensive international commercial experience encompasses the negotiation of IP licensing, outsourced manufacturing, and distributor and joint venture agreements with organisations across Europe, Asia and the US.

John has a Master’s degree in Engineering Science from Cambridge University and holds a variety of non-executive and advisory positions within the science community. He is also a Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology.

Prof. Sir Colin Humphreys

CBE, FREng, FRS
CSO

Prof. Sir Colin Humphreys

CBE, FREng, FRS

CSO

Sir Colin has extensive experience in the commercialisation of scientific ideas and the creation of successful university spin-out companies. Low-cost, high-efficiency LEDs developed by his research group are now being manufactured in the UK. New alloys developed by the Rolls-Royce University Research Centre – which he founded and directed – are now flying in Rolls-Royce engines.

He is acknowledged worldwide as an expert in materials science and has received many international medals for his research. Sir Colin is Professor of Materials Science at Queen Mary University of London, a Fellow of Selwyn College Cambridge and Emeritus Professor of Materials Science at Cambridge University. He is a Fellow of both the Royal Society and the Royal Academy of Engineering and is repeatedly invited to speak at materials science conferences.

Dr Andrew Lynn

Director

Dr Andrew Lynn

Director

Andrew is a serial entrepreneur and executive, focused on early-stage high technology opportunities and academic spin-outs. He has helped lead numerous businesses from initial concept through to product commercialisation. His business experiences encompass start-up, fundraising, growth and trade sale exits, as well as leading both Orthomimetics and CamGaN to trade sale exits as CEO.

Andrew currently serves as CEO of Fluidic Analytics and sits as a non-executive director on several boards, including the Cambridge Network. He was an inaugural winner of a Science|Business Academic Enterprise Award in Europe, and appeared on U.S. Technology Review magazine’s list of the world’s top young innovators, leaders and entrepreneurs.

Ed Stacey

Director

Ed Stacey

Director

Specialising in technology and strategy, Ed holds an MBA and BSc from Manchester University, and started his career with Henkel and Scientific Generics.

He now has over 20 years’ venture capital experience, since co-funding the $50m Venture Technologies deep-tech fund in 1996. He has achieved excellent returns with several high-profile exits. Since co-founding deep-tech investor IQ Capital in 2006, he has directed the firm’s technology strategy. It is currently investing from its £136m IQC Fund III, seeking investments in machine learning, data-based propositions and disruptive IP.

Dr Simon Thomas

FREng, CPhys
CEO

Dr Simon Thomas

FREng, CPhys

CEO

Simon has a diverse background in physics, engineering and materials science combined with many years’ experience in the fields of semiconductors, functional materials, solid state devices and capital equipment manufacture. This has perfectly equipped him to fully understand two-dimensional materials production. With expertise in materials deposition techniques, he has developed numerous new materials and structure generation processes whilst advancing the understanding of the science of materials growth.

As a global high-tech materials and engineering consultant, Simon has multidisciplinary skills in the development of equipment, deposition processes and surface science across a range of fields. The resulting technology advances have achieved new performance levels in existing semiconductor device structures and have facilitated the capability to produce novel materials and new devices.

 

Somu Subramaniam

Director

Somu Subramaniam

Director

Somu Subramaniam is the co-founder and Managing Partner of New Science Ventures (NSV). In addition to Paragraf, Somu serves on the Board of Directors of Achronix Semiconductor Corporation, BrightVolt, Cambridge Epigenetix, Dali Wireless, Ferric, Inc, Oxyrane, Pakal Technologies, ProterixBio, Ralexar Therapeutics, Resolve Therapeutics, Svelte Medical Systems, Ventyx Biosciences, Inc and Zeotap GmbH.

Prior to founding NSV, Somu was a director at McKinsey & Company where he advised leading multinational companies in the pharmaceuticals, medical devices, biotechnology, photonics, software and semiconductor industries. At McKinsey, Somu was leader of the Strategy Practice, the Technology Practice, the Biotechnology Group, and the Healthcare Practice. He also served on the firm’s Investment Committee and led its Equity Portfolio Committee.

Somu holds a B.Tech. degree from the Indian Institute of Technology and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

An experienced leadership team

Paragraf is committed to materially transforming electronics through the development of high-purity graphene products, supporting the advancement of technologies.

Dr Simon Thomas

FREng, CPhys
CEO

Dr Simon Thomas

FREng, CPhys

CEO

Simon has a diverse background in physics, engineering and materials science combined with many years’ experience in the fields of semiconductors, functional materials, solid state devices and capital equipment manufacture. This has perfectly equipped him to fully understand two-dimensional materials production. With expertise in materials deposition techniques, he has developed numerous new materials and structure generation processes whilst advancing the understanding of the science of materials growth.

As a global high-tech materials and engineering consultant, Simon has multidisciplinary skills in the development of equipment, deposition processes and surface science across a range of fields. The resulting technology advances have achieved new performance levels in existing semiconductor device structures and have facilitated the capability to produce novel materials and new devices.

 

Prof. Sir Colin Humphreys

CBE, FREng, FRS
CSO

Prof. Sir Colin Humphreys

CBE, FREng, FRS

CSO

Sir Colin has extensive experience in the commercialisation of scientific ideas and the creation of successful university spin-out companies. Low-cost, high-efficiency LEDs developed by his research group are now being manufactured in the UK. New alloys developed by the Rolls-Royce University Research Centre – which he founded and directed – are now flying in Rolls-Royce engines.

He is acknowledged worldwide as an expert in materials science and has received many international medals for his research. Sir Colin is Professor of Materials Science at Queen Mary University of London, a Fellow of Selwyn College Cambridge and Emeritus Professor of Materials Science at Cambridge University. He is a Fellow of both the Royal Society and the Royal Academy of Engineering and is repeatedly invited to speak at materials science conferences.

Charles Platts

LLB, ACA, MBA
CFO

Charles Platts

LLB, ACA, MBA

CFO

Charles has worked as the finance lead in various multi-site international businesses in listed corporate groups. He has extensive experience in manufacturing, with a career covering materials fabrication, metal refining and volume and speciality chemicals manufacturing. 

In previous positions, Charles was responsible for the financial leadership of businesses with multiple manufacturing and commercial sites covering Europe, US and Asia. As part of these roles, Charles has been significantly involved in strategy development and implementation, major capital projects, the development and review of business structures and processes and ensuring sound governance, compliance and risk management.

Tony Pearce

CEng, BEng, FIMMM
COO

Tony Pearce

CEng, BEng, FIMMM

COO

With over 30 years’ experience in the semiconductor industry, Tony has held numerous leadership positions within the compound semiconductor field, His background is focussed in electronic material processes, volume manufacturing and capital equipment development and production.

Previously as Managing Director within the semiconductor capital equipment field, Tony led the organisation responsible for the development and manufacture of complex material deposition systems. More recently as VP of Global Operations for a leading compound semiconductor material supplier, Tony established and led the global teams responsible for the successful growth and volume production of materials for a diverse range of device applications including 3D sensing, RF power devices, solar power generation and optoelectronic telecommunications.

John Tingay

CEng, BEng, FIMechE
CTO

John Tingay

CEng, BEng, FIMechE

CTO

John has led development of capital equipment in  the semiconductor and electronics industries for over two decades, spanning across wide-ranging technology areas from front end to packaging applications. In these positions, John has been responsible for bringing novel technologies and processes to the industry and supporting the introduction of products by top tier consumer electronics companies.

His experience of the business and technology acquisition process from a multinational corporate viewpoint  has led John to hold several non-executive positions in high technology companies within in the semiconductor and advanced imaging markets. .

John has also worked in the development of systems for particle accelerators and Synchrotron physics, after starting his career in consulting engineering.

Tom Wilson

PhD
CCO

Tom Wilson

PhD

CCO

Tom has a broad background in bringing to market new semiconduct0r products within a range of verticals and application areas. His commercial experience spans product line management, sales, and business development gained across multiple start-ups in applications such as AI computing, automotive, healthcare, wireless infrastructure, and IP networking. At multiple points in his career, Tom has led teams in winning dominant market share with new products against significant global competitors.

Tom has acquired a broad base of experience in a range of go-to-market strategies, technology and market ecosystems, and competitive scenarios in the last 30 years. This has uniquely equipped him to help the Paragraf team drive high-volume electronic device manufacturing, maximizing the return from the multitude of prospective markets that are demanding our technology and products.

Dan Barlow

Mphys
Sales Director – Sensors

Dan Barlow

Mphys

Sales Director – Sensors

Dan has a background in applied physics, with many years’ experience working in a diverse range of commercial roles in the fields of semiconductors and photonics.

Prior to joining Paragraf, Dan was in a leading role for a global photonics manufacturer, expanding into diverse markets in the fields of semiconductor process engineering, quantum computing and aerospace. Dan has a MPhys in Applied Physics from Sheffield Hallam University.

Dr Natasha Conway

Research Director

Dr Natasha Conway

Research Director

Natasha has over 25 years’ experience working in research and development, in both early-stage start-ups and R&D subsidiaries of large corporates in UK, Japan and Turkey. She joined Paragraf in February 2020 and leads a multidisciplinary team of researchers progressing scientific understanding of graphene to enable demonstration of ground-breaking proof of concept graphene-based devices.

Natasha received her PhD from University of Cambridge Engineering Department and holds a BEng degree in Physics and Electronic Engineering from University of Glasgow.

Cathy Cranton

MEng, FCA, BFP
Finance Director

Cathy Cranton

MEng, FCA, BFP

Finance Director

Following the completion of her master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Liverpool, Cathy pursued her keen interest in business and finance by training as a chartered accountant. During her time in practice Cathy progressed from being a junior trainee to managing a varied portfolio of businesses. This allowed Cathy to develop expertise in statutory reporting and taxation, financial control, governance, and budgeting. Cathy also developed a keen interest in people development, being heavily involved in recruitment, training, and mentoring.

Cathy’s role at Paragraf covers both Finance and HR. This allows Cathy to combine her love of technology, her strong understanding of all areas of business finance and her passion for people and organisational development.

Helen Dighton

HR Manager

Helen Dighton

HR Manager

With a career focused on HR management in both the public and private sectors and a wide range of industries, Helen has also spent time in commercial roles, leading sales and marketing activities, to develop a strong understanding of operations in growing companies.

With nearly 30 years’ experience, she is well practiced in working in a global environment and has particular experience in developing and implementing proactive HR processes to support a strong company culture and enable individuals and teams to flourish and thrive in a collaborative environment.

Dr Mike Ellis

Quality Manager

Dr Mike Ellis

Quality Manager

Mike joined Paragraf in 2019 after a 35-year career in the materials, metals, and electronics industries working for both large multinational companies and small start-ups. In his previous role, Mike worked as a consultant, helping several SMEs build their own Electronic Quality Management Systems (EQMS’s) leading to ISO 9001 certifications.

At Paragraf Mike is responsible for the management and development of the EQMS and maintaining the company’s ISO 9001 certification. In 2022, he will be working to guide the business towards ISO 13485 (Biomedical Devices) and IATF 16949 (Automotive) certifications. Mike has degrees from Imperial College and Cambridge, and Warwick Universities. He is also a Chartered Engineer (CEng) and a Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (FIMMM).

Jim Foulkes-Arnold

IT Manager

Jim Foulkes-Arnold

IT Manager

Jim has broad experience in IT, having worked in the USA, Europe and the UK in IT leadership roles including Support, Infrastructure and Software Development within the consumer goods and building products industries. His experience has been developed in environments of rapid growth and have involved multi-site scale-up and support of M&A activities.

Jim is passionate about increasing business value with IT and he enjoys the mix of his hands-on role with strategic management. He has a fascination on how things work and interact and is enjoying learning about the science at work in Paragraf and the material of graphene.

Callum Jones

Facilities and Equipment Engineering Manager

Callum Jones

Facilities and Equipment Engineering Manager

Callum has a background in overseeing and developing nanofabrication infrastructure required for adventurous research into the science and technology of graphene, carbon allotropes, layered crystals and hybrid nanomaterials. This was obtained at Cambridge University, where he managed facilities as well as H&S at the Cambridge Graphene Centre, where in addition, he was a research associate and supervisor at Clare College.

Prior to this, Callum was a postdoctoral researcher at the School of Engineering and Physical Sciences within Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, where he also obtained his PhD and integrated master’s in physics with nanoscience.

Leila Luheshi

PhD
Director of Product Management

Leila Luheshi

PhD

Director of Product Management

Leila brings strong product experience from companies such as AstraZeneca and Oxford Nanopore, and will lead the development of product management processes and practices at Paragraf. She will get directly involved with driving product definition in the Biosensor business and work with the team to bring product management and NPI processes across the business fronts. Leila holds a PHD in Neurodegenerative Diseases and a BA in Natural Sciences.

Anne McAleer

MEng
Head of IP

Anne McAleer

MEng

Head of IP

Anne has worked in the development, management and licensing of Intellectual Property in the semiconductor and mobile communications industry for more than 20 years and has experience of working both in start-ups and in large corporations. Prior to working at Paragraf, Anne was Patent Manager for a multinational semiconductor company, overseeing a very large patent portfolio in Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPS and digital imaging technology and then became Senior IP Director for a biometric sensor company, where her role involved negotiating IP licences to bank card and financial service providers.

Anne is responsible for the definition and implementation of Paragraf’s IP strategy and processes to maximise the value of the company’s fast-growing portfolio of patents, trade secrets and trademarks. She also oversees IP matters related to Paragraf’s collaborations with external partners and customers.

Roberto Mijat

BSc
Director of Marketing

Roberto Mijat

BSc

Director of Marketing

Roberto brings 20 years of global experience in the semiconductor industry. He held several technical and commercial leadership roles at Arm (mobile computing microprocessors) and Graphcore (artificial intelligence accelerators). His experience spans engineering, product management, marketing, business development, strategic partnerships and ecosystems development.

Roberto has a strong track record in taking new technologies to market, developing product-market fit and delivering adoption at scale. He holds an honours degree in Computer Science and is completing an Executive MBA at London Business School.

Julie Palmer

Health, Safety and Environment Manager

Julie Palmer

Health, Safety and Environment Manager

Julie’s background in R&D operations is built on twenty years’ experience in the Agribusiness sector with an early focus on cell biology and the development of large-scale laboratory production of plant breeding material. Growing into multisite and territory operations management, Julie has held responsibilities in health and safety, standardisation and sharing of best practice across global teams, budget management and capital planning.

Julie joined Paragraf in its first year of operation and has been responsible for the development of the Somersham facility to accommodate the amazing team and the incredible growth of our in-house capabilities.

Andrew Pegram

Manufacturing Director

Andrew Pegram

Manufacturing Director

Andy has worked for the semiconductor industry for over 25 years at various tiers within the supply structure. He has held several operations management positions within this field and has a background in volume manufacturing and capital equipment development and production.

Previously as Manufacturing Engineering Manager within the semiconductor equipment manufacturing field, Andy was responsible was the configuration and manufacturing of scientific equipment. More recently as the Programme Manager within an international wafer fabrication company, Andy was responsible for the introduction and qualification of a new 8” wafer Pilot Line for automotive grade power MOSFETs.

Ben Spicer

LLB
Legal Manager

Ben Spicer

LLB

Legal Manager

Ben brings over 15 years of legal experience to the Paragraf management team. After training at local law firm, Ben joined their Commercial & Technology team, working with a broad range of clients, from local software start-ups to Fortune 500 megaliths, as well as Professor Stephen Hawking.

Ben joins us from Arm, where he spent nearly 10 years supporting the non-sales side of the business, before establishing the legal function for the Internet Services Group and where he brought together device management, data analytics and telecoms acquisitions.

Steve Taylor

Head of Corporate Communications

Steve Taylor

Head of Corporate Communications

Steve has led marketing in proprietary and open-source software, hardware, media, and semiconductor IP organisations since the early days of desktop publishing. While the first half of this time was spent in Taiwan promoting to the world imaging software and hardware and high-tech media, the latter half has been in the UK developing influencer marketing in semiconductor IP, open-source software and automotive engineering communities.

Dr Gary Williams

BSc, PhD
Development Director

Dr Gary Williams

BSc, PhD

Development Director

With a diverse technology career spanning over 25years in semiconductor manufacturing and R&D. This included Lithographic teams in the UK and US, across 200 and 300mm substrates and leading Lean activities.

Further to this, Gary was developing new materials on Glass and Flexible substrates and additionally managed software development projects using AGiLE Methodologies. Gary has a PhD in Laser Physics from the University of Hull.

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