NEWS4 December 2024
Surrey Research Park is delighted to welcome Finchetto Ltd, a pioneering deep-tech startup, to its innovative community. Since joining the Park in October, Finchetto has already made a significant impact, securing three major awards for its groundbreaking technology.
In November, Finchetto took first place at the Deep Tech Demo Day 2024 and was named “Hottest Pre-seed Startup” at The Europas Tech Startup Awards.
Most recently, the company added a TechWorks Award for Technology Breakthrough to its accolades. The TechWorks Awards celebrate the very best in UK tech, honouring organisations and individuals for outstanding achievements across diverse sectors. In presenting the TechWorks Award, judges praised Finchetto’s proprietary fully-optical passive network switch for its potential to transform networking and drive significantly more efficient AI performance.
Led by co-founder and CEO Mark Rushworth and co-founder and CTO Michael Pearcey, the company is developing the world’s first fully-optical passive Ethernet switch.
This transformative technology is poised to revolutionise data centres by significantly enhancing energy efficiency and reducing environmental impact.
The Deep Tech Demo Day saw Finchetto beat competition from 170 companies across Europe, with judges recognising the transformative potential of its photonic computing innovation. Similarly, The Europas Awards, known for honouring ambitious startups, hailed Finchetto as “pioneering the future of computing with photonic processors and network switches that operate at light speed”. The company joins a legacy of winners including Spotify and Deliveroo.
Addressing one of the world’s biggest challenges
According to Finchetto, traditional electronic switches in data centres are inefficient, slow, and generate substantial heat. This heat dissipation demands extensive cooling systems, consuming millions of gallons of water and substantial energy. With data centres accounting for 3% of global energy consumption — expected to reach 4% by 2030 — Finchetto’s solution could help address one of the world’s biggest challenges.
By using light (photons) to send, and importantly switch, data, Finchetto estimates it could reduce data centre power consumption by as much as 20%.
Mark Rushworth, CEO of Finchetto Ltd, said:
“We are thrilled to join the Surrey Technology Centre community and are proud to have been recognised for our innovation with these awards. We look forward to commercialising our revolutionary network switch from the Park.”
Caroline Fleming, Director of the Surrey Innovation District ecosystem, University of Surrey, said:
“Congratulations to the Finchetto Team! Welcoming Finchetto to Surrey Research Park was an incredible milestone. Their photonic computing research places them at the forefront of technological innovation, addressing the urgent challenge of meeting growing AI processing demands with reduced environmental impact.
“By supporting Finchetto, Surrey Research Park continues its 40-year legacy as one of the UK’s leading innovation communities for award-winning businesses, fostering the future of fully-optical networking.”
Note to Editors:
For more information about this story or other news about innovation at the Park contact: Ben Wilson, Head of Communications at Surrey Research Park, email: [email protected]
