pureLiFi, the light communications technology company previously known as PureVLC, has raised £1.5 million (approximately $2.26 million) in their latest round of investment. This gives the company a valuation of over £14 million (approximately $21 million). A VC funding round is also in process, which the company aims to close in the second half of 2015.

Scottish-based angel group London & Scottish Investment Partners (LSIP) led the latest round of funding. Investors also include Scottish Investment Bank (SIB) and Old College Capital, the venture investment arm of the University of Edinburgh.

Scott Carnegie, Chairman of LSIP, said: “I am delighted that LSIP have been able to lead this investment round from the angel community. It appealed to LSIP’s key goals of helping to accelerate growth and speed of development of a leading Scottish technology company in anticipation of an earlier exit and release of entrepreneurial wealth.”

This latest round of investment will be used for development of products as well as sales and marketing.

pureLiFi was established in 2012 and is a spin-out from the University of Edinburgh. It was at the University of Edinburgh where the research into visible light communication (VLC) first began in 2008. pureLiFi’s Chief Scientific Office, Professor Harald Haas, first demonstrated Li-Fi technology in 2011 during his talk at TED Global. It was during this talk that he popularized the term “Li-Fi”.

“Li-Fi is increasingly viewed as a transformative technology that can change the way we use the mobile internet as part of future 5G cellular networks and at the same time be an enabler of the emerging Internet of Things,” says Haas.

pureLiFi describes how VLC works on their website:

“When a constant current is applied to an LED light bulb a constant stream of photons are emitted from the bulb which is observed as visible light. If the current is varied slowly the output intensity of the light dims up and down. Because LED bulbs are semi-conductor devices, the current, and hence the optical output, can be modulated at extremely high speeds which can be detected by a photo-detector device and converted back to electrical current. The intensity modulation is imperceptible to the human eye, and thus communication is just as seamless ad RF. Using this technique, high speed information can be transmitted from an LED light bulb.”

pureLiFi launched the Li-Flame to industry partners late last year. Together with a mobile unit that attaches to a laptop screen, the Li-Flame will transform existing light fixtures into Li-Fi access points.

With the VLC industry forecasted to be worth over $9 billion by 2020, according to a report by MarketsandMarkets, pureLIFI has potentially a very large market to capture.

photo via thesecuritylion.wordpress.com