A Stockport-based start-up specialising in flexible, ultra-thin X-ray film that could make medical imaging sharper, less rigid and more comfortable for patients has raised £5m to accelerate production of its next-generation technology and expand into healthcare.
Silveray’s technology currently has a number of industrial uses, such as testing the integrity of pipes in the oil and gas sector as well as detecting faults in hard-to-reach parts found in aerospace and automotive machinery.
Beyond industrial, the company is now exploring new uses in healthcare for its Digital X-ray Film (DXF®), which utilises the company’s patented NPX® X-ray sensitive semiconductor ink. This includes making X-ray scans more accessible, portable, and affordable to check for early signs of chronic disease.
Another area of interest for the company is in breast cancer screening, where pain from the compression caused by mammography machines is often cited as a reason for non-attendance for screenings, and in dental scans, where intra-oral discomfort and the natural gag reflex regularly force dentists to refer patients to specialist imaging centres.
Silveray is also looking closely at radiotherapy, which uses the radiation from X-rays to destroy cancer cells. Silveray states its solution has the potential to remove cost barriers as well as allowing for a more accurate measurement of radiation dose, therefore reducing side effects and making treatment more targeted.
The funding will be used to grow Silveray’s 20-strong team by 50% over the next two years, in order to scale up production and expand commercial relationships across industrial inspection, healthcare, and beyond.
Silveray is led by CEO Dan Cathie, who brings more than three decades’ experience in X-ray and semiconductor technology. Dan started his career as a design engineer at Philips, before going on to commercialise and exit a UK research spinout to the US industrial technology group Nordson in 2020. Through his network in the field of industrial X-ray systems, he was introduced to Silveray, then a University of Surrey spinout, and joined the business as CEO in 2022.
Dan Cathie, CEO of Silveray, said: “I am delighted to welcome PXN Ventures to our growing and enviable list of deep tech investors. This round of funding will enable us to scale our reach beyond our first customers in industrial radiography, and to bring our innovative material to a wider group of applications in healthcare and beyond. We will officially be introducing Digital X-ray Film to a wider range of customers this year, helping to make digital radiography accessible to all. Thin. Flexible. Affordable.”
PXN Ventures led the £5m round with co-investment coming from Silveray’s existing investors, including Northern Gritstone, Empirical Ventures, ACF Investors and Future Planet Capital via the UK Innovation and Science Seed Fund (UKI2S). PXN invested via the GMC Life Sciences Fund By PXN Ventures, which it manages on behalf of the Bruntwood SciTech, Enterprise Cheshire + Warrington and Greater Manchester Combined Authority. Investment has also come from NPIF II – PXN Equity Finance, which is managed by PXN as part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund (NPIF II).
