Edinburgh firm pureLiFi has crashed into administration with all of its 42 staff made redundant.
The company was behind the development of a light-based alternative to WiFi. It had raised £35 million in funding.
The firm was founded in 2012 by Prof. Harald Haas and Dr Mostafa Afgani as a spin-out of the University of Edinburgh and used the light spectrum to send data rather than radio frequencies.
By making small adjustments in the intensity of light, it claimed to deliver an internet connection with a bandwidth far beyond the capabilities of conventional wireless communications.
With data traffic increasing exponentially every year and causing a ‘spectrum crunch’ headache, the potential for easing the burden on existing technologies is massive, then-CEO Alistair Banham told BusinessCloud in 2020. He retired last year.
It had raised funding from Scottish Enterprise and the Scottish National Investment Bank, among 10 investors.
After failing to gain funding recently, the business appointed Kenny Craig and Kevin Mapstone of BTG as joint administrators on 31st August 2026.
Thomas McKay, managing partner of BTG in Scotland and Northern Ireland said: “The firm had received significant investment from numerous sources over the years, and despite creating products and generating revenue with some groundbreaking proprietary wireless technology, the business simply ran out of money before it could cross into profitability.
“A strategic shift into manufacturing its own hardware, rather than licensing its globally patented technology to third-party manufacturers, was more costly than initially anticipated.
“By the end of Q2 2026 the business had simply run out of cash flow and was seeking sources of additional investment needed to cover losses until the business crossed into profitability.
“With no further investment forthcoming, the directors were left with no alternative than to appoint administrators to stop the company’s debts rising, and sadly that has led to the immediate redundancy of all 42 employees at the business.
“Our team is working closely with those affected to help them access the financial entitlements and support available to them, including assistance from Partnership Action for Continuing Employment (PACE) and the Redundancy Payments Service.
“In addition to ensuring these employees receive the guidance and advice they need during this process, our priority is to identify any business assets and realise maximum value from their sale, especially the valuable intellectual property assets built up over the years of development, to the benefit of creditors.”