Haylo Labs, which has acquired
Plessey Semiconductors — the UK’s leading developer of microLED display technology — says it has committed to investing over £100 million in the UK over the next five years ‘to scale Plessey’s manufacturing capacity and grow the highly skilled workforce in Plymouth and beyond and strengthen the UK’s position as a global leader in immersive computing and next-generation technology’.
The international microLED market is forecast to grow from £2.7 billion in 2024 to over £592 billion by 2034 — driven by demand across augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR), automotive displays, premium consumer electronics such as VR headsets and smart glasses, and optical computing. This acquisition comes ‘at a pivotal moment for the sector’, as these technologies are becoming embedded in everyday products, driving demand for ‘advanced, ultra-efficient displays and optical computing units to unprecedented levels’.
Founded in 1956, Plessey Semiconductors is one of Europe’s oldest semiconductor companies and regarded as ‘the world’s most technically advanced microLED business’. The company has a team of 270 staff capable of designing, manufacturing, and engineering next-generation display technologies entirely in-house. Haylo Ventures, a venture operator focused on building and scaling world-class deep tech businesses, established Haylo Labs to focus specifically on the microLED, optical compute, and interconnect sectors.
David Hayes, Haylo Labs’ chief executive and co-founder, said: “This is a defining moment for British tech. Plessey has built the world’s most advanced microLED platforms, with the highest efficiency to date, and is one of the only facilities in the world that can offer customers an end-to-end design and manufacturing facility with technology and talent that surpasses rivals anywhere globally. This acquisition is not just about backing British innovation — it’s about unlocking its global potential in one of the fastest-growing markets over the next decade.”
Dramatically more energy-efficientHe added: “A microLED is a display technology where each pixel is a microscopic LED. Imagine taking a modern 65in HD TV and shrinking it to fit inside half your phone’s SIM card. To put it into perspective, you could fit around 50 microLEDs across the width of a single human hair. Their unique ability to emit light directly at the pixel level results in displays that are brighter, sharper, smaller, and dramatically more energy-efficient than existing technologies.”
He went on to say that the processes and tools used to fabricate microLEDs can also be repurposed to create optical processing units (OPUs), which are ideally suited for performing the complex mathematical calculations required by AI operations that currently consume vast amounts of energy. “Optical computing units (OCUs) represent a new generation of light-based chips that are faster, cooler, and more energy-efficient than today’s silicon devices. Plessey is committed to building the hardware of the future, leveraging its expertise to develop real-world optical computing solutions at scale.”
Keith Strickland, Plessey Semiconductors’ chief executive, said: “The Haylo Labs acquisition will accelerate Plessey’s commercial scaling, bringing transformative microLED and optical computing technologies to the global market. We are focused on expanding our manufacturing footprint here in Plymouth and strengthening our engineering talent pool. This investment underscores our commitment to sustainable growth and innovation in the UK.”