Nanoco Group
Nanoco Group plc is a UK-listed nanomaterials company that manufactures and licenses cadmium-free quantum dots (CFQD® for displays and HEATWAVE® for IR sensing) via its patented molecular seeding process, serving global display, image-sensor and emerging quantum-technology customers.
- Company typePublic
- Founded2001
- HeadquartersManchester, United Kingdom
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingHardware or Manufacturing
What Nanoco Group does
Nanoco Group plc is a UK-listed nanomaterials company that develops, manufactures and licenses cadmium-free quantum dots (CFQDs) using its patented molecular seeding process. Founded in 2001 as a spin-out from the University of Manchester and headquartered in Runcorn (with a US subsidiary in Concord, MA), the company sells two principal product families: CFQD® for visible-spectrum display and lighting applications, and HEATWAVE® (IRQD) infrared-absorbing quantum dots — including PbS, InAs and emerging InSb compositions — tunable from 900nm to beyond 1800nm for NIR and SWIR sensing. Target end-markets span consumer displays (TVs, tablets, monitors, automotive), image sensing (ADAS, machine vision, biometrics, surveillance), and exploratory applications in quantum technologies, photovoltaics and security tagging.
The business operates a hybrid revenue model combining direct product sales (research-quantity HEATWAVE kits priced £515–£1,725), one-off technology and IP licensing fees, ongoing royalties on licensee sales, and professional services for early-stage customer development. Commercial reach is delivered through a small direct sales force, technology licensing to global channel partners (notably Samsung for QLED TVs and Guangdong Poly Optoelectronics for the Chinese display market), and a research-quantity e-commerce channel. The portfolio is supported by roughly 300 patents and trademarks across major jurisdictions, ISO 9001/14001 manufacturing certifications, and a PhD-dense R&D team.
Nanoco Group firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Nanoco Group
- Legal name
- Nanoco Group PLC
- Website
- https://nanocotechnologies.com
- Company type
- Public
- Founded year
- 2001
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Nanoco Group plc is a UK-listed nanomaterials company that manufactures and licenses cadmium-free quantum dots (CFQD® for displays and HEATWAVE® for IR sensing) via its patented molecular seeding process, serving global display, image-sensor and emerging quantum-technology customers.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Nanoco Group industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Semiconductor Nanomaterials (Quantum Dots)
- NAICS
- Research and Development in Nanotechnology (541713)
- SIC
- Semiconductors & Related Devices (3674), Miscellaneous Chemical Products (2890)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Quantum Sensor Components & Subsystems (Lasers, Vacuum, Photonics, Diamond/NV, MEMS) (HDAGAHAM)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Quantum Spectroscopy & Chemical/Biological Sensing (HDAGAHAH)
Keywords
Where Nanoco Group is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Manchester
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices2 records
Markets served
Nanoco Group business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Hardware or Manufacturing
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others
Revenue model
- Product Sales: Direct product sales of nanomaterials including HEATWAVE quantum dots for IR sensing and CFQD quantum dots for displays from Runcorn facility.
- Licensing Fees: Channel partners acquire rights to use Nanoco technology and IP for one-off fees reflecting costs of developing technology and IP.
- Royalties: Percentage royalties on revenue earned by licensees selling materials to their customers.
- Professional Services: R&D services income from early-stage customer engagements delivering services as materials are designed and developed for specific applications.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | HEATWAVE PbS Quantum Dots 1800nm - Research quantities |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | HEATWAVE PbS Quantum Dots 1530nm - Research quantities |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels5 records
Nanoco Group product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Nanoco manufactures and licenses cadmium-free quantum dot nanomaterials for two primary end uses. Its CFQD® product line provides tunable, RoHS-compliant fluorescent semiconductor nanoparticles (400–800 nm) for display backlighting and color conversion in TVs, tablets, smartphones, and monitors. Its HEATWAVE® product line delivers infrared-absorbing PbS, InAs, and InSb quantum dots tunable from 900 nm to beyond 1800 nm for integration onto CMOS image sensors, enabling low-cost NIR/SWIR sensing. The company generates revenue through direct product sales from its Runcorn facility, technology licensing with channel partners (Samsung, POE), royalties on licensee-produced materials, and R&D services for customer-specific quantum dot development.
Product overview
Nanoco Group is a nanomaterials company offering a portfolio of quantum dot products based on its patented 'molecular seeding' process. The core product lines are CFQD® (cadmium-free quantum dots for visible light display and lighting applications) and HEATWAVE®/IRQD (infrared-absorbing quantum dots for NIR/SWIR image sensing). The company also develops emerging Quantum Tech applications for quantum computing and telecommunications. Products are sold as materials for integration into customer manufacturing processes, with direct sales of standardized PbS quantum dot products at various wavelengths. The company operates from its Runcorn, UK facility certified to ISO 9001 and ISO 14001.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- CFQD: Cadmium-Free Quantum Dots - core quantum dot technology brand for display applications
- HEATWAVE
- QDTV
- QUANTUM DISC
- VIVODOTS
Products and services
- CFQD® (Cadmium-Free Quantum Dots) Cadmium-free, RoHS-compliant fluorescent semiconductor nanoparticles tunable to emit any color in the visible spectrum (400–800 nm) by adjusting particle size; used in displays (TVs, monitors, tablets, smartphones), lighting, and life sciences applications.
- HEATWAVE® (Infrared Quantum Dots for Sensing) Infrared-absorbing quantum dot materials with tunable absorption bands from 900 nm to 1800 nm and beyond, designed for direct application onto CMOS image sensors to extend their range into Near and Short-Wave Infrared for sensing applications.
- IRQD Product Line Product line encompassing HEATWAVE® PbS and InAs infrared quantum dot materials for applications including face/iris recognition, agriculture hyperspectral imaging, ADAS, quality control, wearable diagnostics, security and surveillance, robotics, and AR/VR.
- Security Tagging (CFQD® Optical Taggants) Optical security tagging solutions using CFQD® quantum dots that provide highly tunable narrow emission profiles to create complex, hard-to-imitate optical fingerprints, deliverable via ink formulations and printing techniques for anti-counterfeit and authentication applications.
- Quantum Tech (Singly-Doped Quantum Dots) Singly-doped colloidal quantum dots being developed as a material platform for quantum telecommunications, quantum computing, quantum repeaters, encrypted communications, and nanoscale magnetic sensors for security applications.
- HEATWAVE® PbS Quantum Dots (Commercial Research Products) Commercial PbS quantum dot products available in various wavelengths from 900 nm to 2200 nm, sold direct via the Nanoco online ordering portal for SWIR sensing research and prototyping, with unit pricing ranging from £515 to £1,725 depending on wavelength and specification.
Companies that use Nanoco Group
Customer profileNamed customers4 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Nanoco Group technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature6 records
Nanoco Group partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Five partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.
- Shoei Chemical Inc. and Shoei Electronic MaterialsminorMutual covenant not to sue agreed March 2026. Settlement includes cross-licensing terms: Nanoco will not pursue Shoei for quantum dot patents in display field; Shoei will not pursue Nanoco for quantum dot patents in sensing field. Both parties bear own legal costs.
- Caldwell, Cassady and CurryminorDallas-based IP law firm retained by Nanoco to represent it in litigation against Shoei Chemical Inc. and Shoei Electronic Materials for patent infringement in US District Court for Eastern District of Virginia.
- Guangdong Poly Optoelectronics Co., Ltd. (POE)coreLicensing and Collaboration Agreement signed May 2023. Nanoco will supply CFQD quantum dots to the Chinese market where focus is shifting from cadmium-based to environmentally friendly products. POE provides proprietary resin, film and encapsulation technology and already counts major players in the Chinese display market as customers. The collaboration combines respective technologies, materials and equipment.
- SamsungcoreIn 2023, Samsung took out a licence to Nanoco's patent portfolio in settlement of litigation for alleged infringement of certain Nanoco patents in its QLED TVs. The licence allows Samsung access to Nanoco's unique IP relating to cadmium-free quantum dot technology. Samsung subsequently received SGS certification for cadmium-free quantum dot technology excellence.
- EmberioncoreCollaboration using Nanoco's HEATWAVE QD materials in QD-CMOS SWIR camera development. Emberion built proprietary SWIR cameras using Nanoco's materials for imaging applications including industrial quality control and environmental imaging.
Scale indicators8 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Nanoco Group competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Hansol Chemical: South Korea-based specialty chemicals producer with a major quantum dot materials business supplying Samsung Display and other Korean display OEMs. Directly competitive with Nanoco's CFQD display licensing model in the same Korean and Asian display ecosystem.
- Nanosys (now part of Shoei Chemical): Previously the leading US cadmium-free quantum dot materials supplier for displays; Nanoco and Nanosys were the two principal CFQD licensors before Shoei Chemical's acquisition. Direct overlap in QD materials licensing to display OEMs and direct target of Nanoco's recent US litigation.
Broad incumbents
- onsemi: US-listed semiconductor company with a sizable image sensor business including industrial and automotive SWIR-capable sensors. Direct competitor in CMOS image sensors and an indirect competitor in QD-enhanced sensing solutions that compete with Nanoco's HEATWAVE go-to-market.
- LG Display: Major Korean display panel manufacturer using cadmium-free quantum dots in its high-end TVs and monitors (with QD-OLED roadmap). Comparable end-market exposure to Nanoco's CFQD display licensing business and major buyer in the same value chain.
- STMicroelectronics: European semiconductor incumbent with broad CMOS image sensor and time-of-flight portfolios for automotive and industrial sensing. Comparable in target applications (ADAS, industrial QC, IoT) and a potential customer-side incumbent that Nanoco's HEATWAVE components serve.
- Sony Semiconductor Solutions: Global leader in CMOS image sensors with strong roadmap into SWIR and industrial sensing - a customer-side incumbent that Nanoco's HEATWAVE targets via CMOS integration. Comparable end-market exposure in ADAS, machine vision, and IoT sensing.
- Samsung Display (QD-Display / QLED): Display manufacturing arm of Samsung Group that sources and develops cadmium-free QDs for QLED TVs. Both a customer/partner (via 2023 license) and a competitor developing in-house QD IP; broad incumbent across display value chain with overlapping photonic materials capability.
Emerging players
- Avantama: European colloidal quantum dot materials startup focused on display, lighting, and sensing applications including NIR/SWIR dots. Closely comparable technology profile (colloidal QDs) and competitive on display and sensing use cases, though at smaller scale than Nanoco.
- Quantum Solutions: Saudi Arabia-headquartered developer of perovskite and quantum dot materials for displays, sensors, and solar applications. Material-overlap rival in the QD display/sensing space with emerging-IP profile comparable to Nanoco's cadmium-free efforts.
Regional players
- Ocean Insight: US-based spectroscopy and hyperspectral imaging solutions provider that integrates SWIR-capable sensors and could leverage Nanoco's HEATWAVE QD materials. Comparable in spectroscopy/sensing end markets where Nanoco's quantum sensor offerings compete or co-exist.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks7 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Nanoco Group social profiles
Digital presenceNanoco Group compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance3 records
Nanoco Group financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Nanoco Group leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles4 records
Nanoco Group subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries1 record
Nanoco Group funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds3 records
Investors2 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Nanoco Group M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Nanoco Group
What does Nanoco Group do?
Nanoco manufactures and licenses cadmium-free quantum dot nanomaterials for two primary end uses. Its CFQD® product line provides tunable, RoHS-compliant fluorescent semiconductor nanoparticles (400–800 nm) for display backlighting and color conversion in TVs, tablets, smartphones, and monitors. Its HEATWAVE® product line delivers infrared-absorbing PbS, InAs, and InSb quantum dots tunable from 900 nm to beyond 1800 nm for integration onto CMOS image sensors, enabling low-cost NIR/SWIR sensing. The company generates revenue through direct product sales from its Runcorn facility, technology licensing with channel partners (Samsung, POE), royalties on licensee-produced materials, and R&D services for customer-specific quantum dot development.
Is Nanoco Group a public or private company?
Nanoco Group is a public company. It is classified as public and is currently operating.
When was Nanoco Group founded?
Nanoco Group was founded in 2001. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Nanoco Group based?
Nanoco Group is headquartered in Manchester, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does Nanoco Group make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Product Sales are the primary driver. The others are licensing Fees, royalties and professional Services.
Who are Nanoco Group's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Hansol Chemical and Nanosys (now part of Shoei Chemical). Broad incumbents are onsemi, LG Display, STMicroelectronics, Sony Semiconductor Solutions and Samsung Display (QD-Display / QLED). Emerging players are Avantama and Quantum Solutions. Ocean Insight is listed as a regional player.
Does Nanoco Group have an API?
No public API is recorded for Nanoco Group.
What industry is Nanoco Group in?
Nanoco Group's product category is Semiconductor Nanomaterials (Quantum Dots). Its primary akta.pro industry code is HDAGAHAM, Quantum Sensor Components & Subsystems (Lasers, Vacuum, Photonics, Diamond/NV, MEMS), with a secondary code of HDAGAHAH, Quantum Spectroscopy & Chemical/Biological Sensing. Its NAICS code is 541713 and its SIC code is 3674.