A COMPANY developing wafer-thin screens for the next generation of mobile phones, electronic organisers and games has raised £5.3m from investors.

Opsys, an Oxford University spin-off company, will use the money to equip state-of-the-art laboratories at Begbroke Science Park, where it expects to employ about 30 staff within two years.

Venture capital company 3i has put in £2m and Quester is investing £1.5m from its venture capital trusts and from the Isis College Fund.

The Isis fund was set up by college bursars hoping exploit some of the investment opportunities emerging from the university's science departments. The £10.5m fund, raised from the university and 27 of its colleges, is managed commercially by Quester.

The rest of the money comes from private investors.

Andrew Holmes, a director of Quester, who joins the Opsys board, said: "Partnership with Oxford University has been a key to the success of Opsys so far. We are pleased that the Isis College Fund is making its first investment only ten weeks after being formed."

Opsys founders - chemistry lecturer Dr Victor Christou, 33, and engineering researcher Dr Oleg Salata, 35 - are developing new light-emitting phosphor materials.

Conventional TVs and computers use bulky cathode-ray tubes, but now telecoms companies are engaged in breakneck competition to find the best material for a new generation of hand-held monitors for mobile phones, car dashboards, and sales machines.

A thin layer of the light-emitting material is sandwiched between two electrodes. Because the layers are so thin, the screen can be lightweight, transparent and flexible. Managing director Michael Holmes, said: "Our displays will be thinner, brighter and cheaper than flat displays available today.

"Our technology will offer manufacturers of mobile telephones, palmtops and other equipment great benefits.

"The new funds will allow us to fund new laboratories and an aggressive technology development and expansion plan."

Story date: Tuesday 08 February

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