Nanoco Group

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.

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

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

• Cadmium-free quantum dots
• Infrared sensing nanomaterials
• SWIR image sensors
• Quantum dot licensing
• Display color conversion

Headquarters

HQ city

Manchester

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Product Sales: Direct product sales of nanomaterials including HEATWAVE quantum dots for IR sensing and CFQD quantum dots for displays from Runcorn facility.
2. Licensing Fees: Channel partners acquire rights to use Nanoco technology and IP for one-off fees reflecting costs of developing technology and IP.
3. Royalties: Percentage royalties on revenue earned by licensees selling materials to their customers.
4. Professional Services: R&D services income from early-stage customer engagements delivering services as materials are designed and developed for specific applications.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core 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.

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Shoei Chemical Inc. and Shoei Electronic MaterialsminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 19 March 2026Mutual 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 CurryminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 12 January 2026Dallas-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)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 25 May 2023Licensing 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.
• SamsungcoreOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing Partner · 1 January 2023In 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.
• EmberioncoreTechnology or IntegrationCollaboration 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

Direct 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

• Xx.com/nanocotech
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/526993

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds3 records

Investors2 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Nanoco Group