News: Photovoltaics
17 July 2025
Quinas wins ICT Start-up category of 2025 WIPO Global Awards
Quinas Technology Ltd (which was spun off from Lancaster University in early 2023) has been named by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) as winner in the ICT Start-Up category of the 2025 WIPO Global Awards. Quinas is one of just ten companies worldwide to receive this honour and the first ever winner from the UK.
The awards were presented during the 66th WIPO General Assembly at WIPO headquarters in Geneva, in the presence of over 1400 delegates, including representatives from WIPO’s 193 member states, international organizations, and innovation experts.
Picture: World Intellectual Property Organization director general Daren Tang presents the award to Quinas chief scientific officer professor Manus Hayne at an awards ceremony in Geneva.
Selected from over 780 applicants across 95 countries, the WIPO Global Awards celebrate small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that are using IP to drive commercial success and deliver real-world impact through innovation, business growth and positive social impact.
As a winner, Quinas will benefit from a tailored support package that includes strategic mentoring, global visibility, and access to WIPO’s international network of IP and business partners.
The award recognizes Quinas’ use of IP to transform its ULTRARAM memory from quantum physics research at Lancaster University into a manufacturable universal memory technology with global applications in AI, data centers, and secure computing.
ULTRARAM is a patented compound-semiconductor-based memory technology that combines DRAM-like speed and flash-like retention with ultra-low power consumption, addressing global demands for high-performance, energy-efficient memory. To date, Quinas has secured five granted patents across four jurisdictions, with eight more pending, forming a foundation for its IP-led commercialization strategy.
Supported by Innovate UK and working with research and industry partners worldwide, Quinas is advancing the commercialization of ULTRARAM for high-impact applications including AI acceleration, in-memory neuromorphic computing, cybersecurity and low-power edge devices.
“Quinas Technology is honoured to receive this award, which highlights the power of intellectual property to take ideas from lab to market,” says Quinas’ chief scientific officer professor Manus Hayne. “It’s a significant moment to be recognised during the UN International Year of Quantum, as quantum resonant tunnelling is the enabling principle behind ULTRARAM’s unique ability to combine speed, endurance and non-volatility in one device,” he adds.
“This award is a powerful validation of our mission at Quinas: to translate world-class research into sovereign semiconductor innovation with global reach,” says CEO James Ashforth-Pook. “As we scale ULTRARAM, IP remains at the heart of our business model — enabling strategic partnerships and safeguarding our long-term competitive advantage.”
“Through our Industrial Strategy this government will continue to back British innovation like this breakthrough memory technology — making data centers more energy-efficient to help them grow and compete around the world,” states UK Science Minister Lord Vallance.
Quinas has received multiple global awards for innovation, including first prize in the IC Taiwan Global Challenge and Most Innovative Startup at the Flash Memory Summit in Silicon Valley.
IQE and Quinas complete Innovate UK-funded £1.1m ULTRARAM industrialization project
