One of Northern Ireland’s most successful university spinouts has created 10 new jobs and set its sights on £20 million worth of exports for its newly developed microscope.
Andor Technologies said its Benchtop Confocal Microscope is the product of a multimillion pound research and development project which will allow it to target new export markets with what it described as disruptive technology.
The microscope’s relatively compact size and value proposition has already found interest from pharmaceutical organisations and smaller universities which can’t afford or don’t have the space for the standard, more expensive equipment.
“With our BC43 product, we are targeting new markets and seeing interest in regions we have not previously sold microscopes into,” Claire Greenwood, Director of Engineering at Andor Technology, said. “Since its launch, we’ve received sales enquiries from over 50 countries and have sold units to Saudi Arabia, the US, China, Japan and South America.”
“The product has been particularly well received by pharma organisations and smaller universities, many of which do not have the space or budget for larger, more complex and expensive systems. This initial success has encouraged us to set an ambitious export sales figure of £20m in the first three years and we are confident that we can achieve this.”
Andor Technology was founded in 1989 as a spin-out from Queen’s University Belfast and has built its success on a focus on high performance scientific digital cameras, microscopy systems and spectrographs for academic, industrial and government applications. Based in Springvale Business Park, Belfast, it was acquired by Oxford Instruments Plc in 2014.
Its latest product was developed with support from Invest Northern Ireland.
“Andor Technology is committed to carrying out targeted strategic research and development to maintain and strengthen its market position,” Dr Vicky Kell, Invest NI’s Director of Innovation, Research & Development, said. “The success of the BC43 product to date and its potential for future worldwide sales are testament to the wisdom of that approach.”
