Durham-based synthetic diamond business Dyman Advanced Materials secures £882k in investment
Revolutionary synthetic diamond production business, Dyman Advanced Materials, based at the North East Technology Park (NETPark) in County Durham, is set to further disrupt the $12bn market in 2022 after raising over £882,000 after successful third and fourth rounds of investment this year.
The funds raised will be used to commercialise their PCD (polycrystalline diamond) technology after a successful proof of concept. They will also expand on their diamond product range with a new diamond carbonado product. This new product uses an innovative technology where extremely high temperatures are combined with intense pressure to create a premium quality diamond.
The third round saw angel investors respond enthusiastically to the diamond manufacturer at a joint Newcastle Angel Hub and NorthInvest pitch event in February which resulted in £414,000 of investment with a further £221,000 raised from angel investors across the UK. The Newcastle Angel Hub and NorthInvest connect investors with businesses at all stages of growth seeking investment. The Newcastle Angel Hub is delivered by the Innovation SuperNetwork and NorthInvest, which is part-funded by ERDF.
In addition to this, the fourth round, which closed at the end of June, raised a total of just over £247,000, of which £117,000 came through the Regional Angel Investment Accelerator (RAIA) programme and the remaining £130,000 through Newcastle Angel Hub investors. Funded by Innovate UK, the RAIA programme is led by the North East Business and Innovation Centre (BIC) and delivered by the Innovation SuperNetwork and North Invest in partnership with the UK Business Angels Association.
Dr Gary Gibson, founder of Dyman commented: “This is an overwhelming amount of money and we are thrilled to be able to continue with our new product development. It is very exciting to have such a wide range of investors both from the North East and across the UK, not to mention the RAIA funding – we have a lot of people backing us on this journey.”
Jordan Dargue, Head of Access to Finance at Innovation SuperNetwork and Board Director at NorthInvest, said: “We’ve supported Dyman from the start, and it is so rewarding to see them go from strength-to-strength whilst we work with them. Our journey with Dyman has allowed them to secure appropriate investment at every stage of development and I’m excited to see how these third and fourth rounds of investment will allow them to commercialise their PCD and expand their product range further.”
“At the SuperNetwork, we work closely with North East businesses to help them grow through innovation, and then once they are ready, we invite them to joint pitch events organised through the Newcastle Angel Hub and North Invest. Dyman are a company that continually uses innovation to scale-up their business and we wish them every success for the future and look forward to continuing our work with them.”
