London Tech Week And The UK's Deep Tech Industry

Good morning, COVID-19 is VUCA in action. A key requirement to successfully execute Archer’s strategic priorities is to increase our access to large-scale technology infrastructure both within and outside Australia, and build a resilient business model as we grow during (and after) the COVID-19 pandemic.

As part of an invited delegation of tech companies on a virtual trade mission to London Tech Week, the Archer team heard from a number of entrepreneurs, government representatives, and fund managers with experiential knowledge on how to navigate through the largest and one of the most competitive markets outside the US – the UK.

Europe’s tech landscape is reshaping for a digital future

Representatives from the UK Government emphasised that the next few years would “shape the rest of the century” and that the technology sector would be crucial in the road to the UK’s economic recovery as ‘tech’ represented an economic opportunity exceeding “hundreds of billions of Pounds”.

There were positive overtones about the state of the UK’s tech ecosystem as the technological foundation remained largely ‘intact’ despite COVID-19, even within the deep tech sector, with over 100 companies in the UK said to be active in quantum computing and a plethora of agile ‘shallow-techs’ showcasing digital technologies.

Only the strongest supply chains

To date, Archer has successfully overcome several Australia-specific supply chain gaps in the deep tech sector, including gaining access to a local world-class Prototype Foundry and strong intellectual property. This has allowed the Company to rapidly develop its materials technology towards commercialisation.

However, drawing on a resilient deep tech supply-chain requires finding, employing, and retaining highly skilled people. These people are rare. At Archer, we employ exceptional people and work with world-class experts in Australia, Switzerland, Germany, and the US, that support our technology development.

The UK is home to 2 of the top 3 rank Universities in the world and various large-scale tech institutes that house a critical mass of expertise. Archer will now work directly with the British Consulate-General to explore support and options relevant to expanding Archer’s team and infrastructure access needs over the next year.

Entering the UK market with strong deep tech fundamentals

Archer is currently in the process of progressing international patent applications related to its 12CQ quantum computing chip and graphene-based biosensor technology. The former includes an EU application in substantive examination stages filed through the European Patent Office (EPO).

Patents are important assets to technology companies as they can help safeguard products in a marketplace for up to 20 years. Uncertainty around the impact Brexit will have on IP rights was slightly alleviated for tech companies, as the EPO is not an EU agency, and so the UK leaving the EU does not affect the current European patent system – Good news.

Overall, London Tech Week was a unique and exciting experience. The Archer team looks forward to ongoing engagement with the British Consulate-General to capitalise on opportunities in the UK that may expedite the commercialisation of our quantum computing and biosensing technologies.

Sincerely,

Dr Mohammad Choucair, FRACI FRSN GAICD
Chief Executive Officer
Archer Materials Limited (ASX:AXE)

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