Communications protection devices surges ahead with $1 million investment

Fultec Pty Ltd has received $1 million dollars from the Allen & Buckeridge Emerging Technologies Fund.

Fultec, which was founded in 2001, will use the investment to commercialise the Transient Blocking Unit (TBU), an innovative electronic component designed to protect complex electronic circuits such as high speed communications interfaces from voltage surges caused by electrical strikes and equipment malfunctions.

The investment is Allen & Buckeridge’s first for their Emerging Technologies Fund since its establishment in early 2003. “We are excited to be involved in the development of this new ‘disruptive’ technology that will revolutionise the way sophisticated electronic circuits are protected,” said Bob Christiansen, Executive Director, Allen & Buckeridge.

“This funding will allow us to continue the development of our state of the art protection technology” said Steve McRae, Fultec’s CEO. “Our next developments will facilitate the entry of our products into a broader set of Industrial, Data-communications and Tele-communications market segments which represent volume markets for us. We will also be developing a range of distribution channel and production partnerships over the next 12 months that will secure the success of our products internationally.”

“The current TBU technology is based upon off the shelf, discreet components. The A & B investment will be instrumental in transitioning the technology into a fully integrated commercial product and then launching it into the international market,” said Dr Richard Harris, the founder and developer of the TBU technology.

The device was conceived in the mid-1990’s by Dr Richard Harris when he was a PhD student at the University of Queensland. Its potential was recognised by the UQ commercialisation company, UniQuest Pty Ltd, which set up Fultec in 2001. Uniseed, a specialist pre-seed fund, provided first round funding of $840,000 in 2002-2003, to enable prototyping of Fultec’s surge protection devices.

Fultec believes it has an opportunity to establish itself as a major supplier in a world wide market that will increase to US$2.0 billion over the next four to five years.

For further information please contact Stephan McRae +61 (7) 33929202.

Fultec is an organization focused on delivering state of the art surge suppression technologies for the communications marketplace. The company’s products are proven in the field and will be distributed worldwide through a range of channel partnerships. For more information about Fultec visit www.fultec.com

Allen & Buckeridge. Established in July, 1996, Allen & Buckeridge is one of Australia’s largest independent venture capital managers, specialising in early and expansion-stage investments in information technology, telecommunications and media companies. The Allen & Buckeridge Emerging Technologies Fund is focused on the commercialisation of research from Australian universities and public sector research agencies. For more information about Allen & Buckeridge visit htttp://a-b.com.au.

Uniseed is a specialist pre-seed and seed fund, established as a joint venture between UQ Holdings Ltd/UniQuest Pty Ltd and Melbourne University Private, the commercial arms of the University of Queensland and the University of Melbourne, respectively. For more information about Uniseed visit www.uniseed.com