Semiconductor company Pragmatic is launching a £100m fundraising campaign to support its expansion into the US market. However, the company has downplayed suggestions that this move signifies a distancing from the UK.

Pragmatic has clarified that it intends to continue scaling its manufacturing operations in the UK while simultaneously expanding into the American market. The US government has been offering substantial financial support to semiconductor companies through the CHIPS Act, while the UK has adopted a different approach that has garnered a mixed response from the microchip industry.(On May 19th, 2023, the UK government revealed a plan to boost the semiconductor industry, but the £1bn funding over 10 years is significantly less than the $50bn allocated by the US and €43bn from the EU, which has drawn criticism).

The company has dismissed concerns that the fundraising effort is part of a strategy to exit the UK. In a LinkedIn post, Pragmatic stated that claims of considering a departure from the UK due to the US expansion do not accurately reflect its position. The company reiterated that international expansion has always been part of its business plan.

Pragmatic has expressed satisfaction with the UK government’s ongoing commitment to supporting semiconductor manufacturing. The company has praised the creation of the Semiconductor Advisory Panel, a new body assembled to aid the government’s policymaking efforts in the sector.

Earlier this year, Pragmatic’s founder, Scott White, voiced concerns about the lack of adequate support for the semiconductor industry in the UK in an interview and he also commended the actions taken by the Biden administration in the US.

About Pragmatic

Founded in 2010, Pragmatic is a UK-based technology company with over 230 employees and three locations in the UK. The head office is in Cambridge, the production facility and offices are in Sedgefield, and the new 175,000ft² manufacturing facility, Pragmatic Park, is located in Durham.

Pragmatic has developed a revolutionary integrated circuit platform that doesn't rely on silicon. This technology uses thin-film semiconductors to create flexible integrated circuits that are thinner than a human hair and significantly cheaper and faster to produce than silicon chips. And this provides a compelling alternative for many mainstream electronics applications and enables new applications not possible with silicon.More