Irresistible Materials Overview
Irresistible Materials is a UK-based, venture- and strategically-backed developer of next-generation photoresists for extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography, the patterning step that defines the smallest features on leading-edge logic and memory chips. Its core asset is the patented Multi-Trigger Resist (MTR™), a metal-free, small-molecule negative-tone resist chemistry that the company says has molecules up to ten times smaller than conventional polymer resists, and that uses a multi-step activation mechanism to limit acid diffusion and the stochastic blur that limits conventional chemically amplified resists (CARs). MTR is positioned as a third resist platform alongside CARs and metal-oxide resists (MORs), aimed at both today's 0.33-NA EUV scanners and ASML's 0.55 high-NA tools. In October 2025 Tokyo Ohka Kogyo (TOK), one of the three suppliers that dominate the EUV resist market, became its controlling-interest shareholder and joint development partner. In June 2026 IM sold its LiquidCarbon™ spin-on-carbon patents to Nano-C so that it could focus only on MTR. The company is pre-revenue at scale, has around ten employees, and is preparing to sample customers and scale up manufacturing.
What the company does. Irresistible Materials designs, formulates and optimises photoresist chemistries for EUV lithography at 13.5 nm wavelength. A photoresist is the light-sensitive film spun onto a wafer that records the pattern projected by the scanner. Resist performance governs three linked variables: resolution (how small a feature can be printed), line-edge and line-width roughness (LER/LWR), and sensitivity (the dose needed, which drives scanner throughput). At EUV wavelengths these three trade off against each other because of photon shot noise and resist chemistry. IM's whole strategy rests on the claim that its MTR mechanism loosens that trade-off.
Company's own description. In its February 2026 joint release with TOK, IM describes itself as a pioneering electronic materials technology company that develops advanced photoresists for next-generation EUV lithography. It says its patented MTR offers better imaging performance for low-NA and high-NA EUV than competing solutions on several criteria, and that integrated device manufacturer (IDM) and foundry customers can get higher yields and lower cost of ownership (CoO) for logic and memory devices. The website frames the mission as developing resists that behave predictably under EUV exposure, which improves throughput, CoO and yield, and as moving technologies from research into manufacturing alongside semiconductor customers and partners.
Independent characterisation. IM is a deep-technology IP and formulation company that has not yet reached commercial scale. For more than a decade it has developed a non-polymeric (molecular) resist family and has tested it on industry-standard tools, including ASML NXE scanners through imec, the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) EUV interference lithography beamline and the Berkeley micro-exposure tool (MET). Manufacturing has always been outsourced: first to Nano-C, Inc. (Westwood, Massachusetts), and since 2025–26 increasingly through TOK's ISO-certified photoresist manufacturing and quality systems. Commercially it is at the qualification and sampling stage. Chipmakers spend several years qualifying resists layer by layer and node by node before volume adoption.
Business and revenue model. Since its earliest public statements, the model has changed in three stages:
2014–2017: Stated model: IP licensor to established resist suppliers, while behaving like a resist supplier to win scanner time and customer evaluations; Evidence: Co-founder David Ure told EE Times Europe (2017) that IM's primary model would be licensing IP to resist suppliers
2015–2026 (spin-on carbon): Stated model: Licensing and distribution through a channel partner, with material made by Nano-C; Evidence: 2015 licence with MicroChem Corp. for sale and distribution of IM spin-on-carbon materials
2025 onward: Stated model: Co-development and commercialisation with a strategic resist major (TOK), with TOK adding MTR to its resist portfolio and manufacturing it for high-volume manufacturing (HVM); Evidence: February 2026 IM–TOK joint release
The revenue mix between product sales, development fees, licensing royalties and grants is not publicly disclosed. As a small company, IM files abridged accounts that do not include a profit and loss account, and turnover is unreported. Historically, non-dilutive income has included UK government grants (Technology Strategy Board / Innovate UK and the UKRI grant programme).
Value chain position. IM sits upstream in the lithography materials chain:
Fine chemical / precursor synthesis: Participants: Specialty chemical makers (e.g., Nano-C for fullerene and molecular components); IM role: Specifies and sources components; resist has four or five elements (CEO interview, March 2025)
Resist formulation and optimisation: Participants: TOK, JSR/Inpria, Shin-Etsu, Fujifilm, Sumitomo Chemical, Dongjin Semichem, DuPont, IM; IM role: Core activity: custom formulations per layer and customer
Resist manufacturing and QC at volume: Participants: Resist majors with ISO-certified plants; IM role: Through TOK (from 2025–26) and Nano-C
Process integration and evaluation: Participants: imec, ASML, Albany NanoTech EUV Accelerator, PSI, Berkeley Lab; IM role: Testing partner relationships
Device manufacturing: Participants: Logic foundries, IDMs, DRAM makers; IM role: Target end customers
Customer types. The targets are leading-edge IDMs and foundries running EUV lithography for logic and memory. In 2018 eeNews Europe reported that IM was supplying Intel, Samsung and GlobalFoundries, and had dealings with TSMC, for evaluation material. The company has not named any current production customer. In March 2025 the CEO said chipmakers were going through material qualification and that IM expected engagement opportunities over 2025–2026.
End markets served. These are advanced logic (3 nm-class and below, A14/A10 nodes), DRAM moving towards EUV and high-NA, and, through spin-on carbon historically, MEMS, 3D chip structures and hard-mask applications. Demand comes ultimately from AI accelerators, data-centre CPUs, HBM/DRAM and premium mobile processors.
Strategy
Stated strategic themes. In its 2025–2026 communications, management has repeated five themes:
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Focus exclusively on MTR for EUV. The June 2026 Nano-C transaction was explicitly framed as allowing IM to "focus exclusively" on developing and commercialising its EUV photoresist, and the TOK partnership is likewise exclusively focused on accelerating the MTR roadmap.
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Position MTR as a third platform alongside CAR and MOR. The company presents MTR as a strong complement to CAR and MOR, not a wholesale replacement, for both low-NA and high-NA EUV.
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Lead with cost of ownership. Higher sensitivity at a given roughness is pitched as faster scanner throughput. Management estimated savings of about US$10–15 million a year per EUV scanner (March 2025).
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Sustainability by design. PFAS/PFOS-free and metal-free formulations are a core development objective with TOK, ahead of EU REACH restrictions on PFAS.
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Scale through partners, not owned plants. Manufacturing goes through TOK's ISO-certified quality systems and Nano-C, with optional all-European production and US sovereign supply-chain engagement in Albany.
Initiatives in the last 24 months
Jan–Mar 2025: Initiative: Leadership transition; Detail: Dinesh Bettadapur appointed director (31 Jan) and CEO (announced 11 Mar); Targets / intent: Commercial strategy and EUV resist adoption
Mar 2025: Initiative: High-NA formulation programme; Detail: New formulation on the MTR foundation to address absorption and depth-of-focus limits at high NA; testing with imec; Targets / intent: High-NA readiness
2025: Initiative: Supply-chain diversification; Detail: Talks with suppliers in the US, Europe and Asia; Nano-C continues as manufacturing partner; Targets / intent: Fast scale-up; option of fully European production
2025: Initiative: Albany EUV Accelerator engagement; Detail: Sovereign supply-chain work in New York; Targets / intent: US market access
Aug–Nov 2025: Initiative: Recapitalisation; Detail: Share allotments, Class A preferred shares, new articles; Targets / intent: Fund scale-up
Oct 2025 / Feb 2026: Initiative: TOK strategic investment and joint development; Detail: TOK investment; MTR added to TOK resist portfolio; Targets / intent: HVM scale-up; faster customer adoption
Feb 2026: Initiative: Team and infrastructure expansion; Detail: TOK funds to grow the team mainly in Birmingham, plus equipment, materials and facilities; Targets / intent: Capacity for customer sampling
Feb 2026: Initiative: Deepened ecosystem work; Detail: Closer collaboration with ASML and imec; Targets / intent: Tool-level validation
Jun 2026: Initiative: Portfolio rationalisation; Detail: LiquidCarbon patent sale to Nano-C; Targets / intent: Move MTR towards sampling and manufacturing scale-up
Medium-term financial targets. No revenue, margin or profitability guidance has been published. Operational targets are qualitative: customer sampling, manufacturing scale-up to HVM quality, and adoption by IDMs and foundries for low-NA and high-NA EUV. Management cites internal analysis and industry data projecting the global EUV photoresist market to grow at a CAGR above 20% and exceed US$1 billion by the end of the decade.
Products & Services
EUV photoresists — MTR™ (Multi-Trigger Resist) platform
| Attribute | Detail |
|---|---|
| Product family | MTR™ Multi-Trigger Resist |
| Tone / type | Negative-tone, molecular (small-molecule, non-polymeric), non-metal resist |
| Composition | Multi-trigger molecule (MTM) base, crosslinker and photoacid generator (PAG). Later generations add a quencher-like chemical trap and high-absorbance non-metal elements |
| Mechanism | Activation needs several acid-catalysed "trigger" events close together. Isolated stray acid events are chemically quenched, giving dose-dependent quenching-like behaviour that limits acid diffusion and blur |
| Target applications | Contacts/vias, pillars and dense lines/spaces on low-NA and high-NA EUV. Formulations are tuned per layer and per customer, with no single universal recipe |
| Key claimed specifications | Molecules up to 10× smaller than conventional polymers; sub-30 mJ/cm² patterning and up to twice the speed of competing resists (March 2025 claims); potential CoO savings of about US$10–15 million a year per EUV scanner (company estimate, March 2025); film thickness down to about 18 nm with about 16 nm remaining after lithography and etch |
| Environmental profile | PFAS/PFOS-free and metal-free formulations, now a joint IM–TOK development objective |
| Target customers | Leading-edge logic foundries, IDMs and DRAM manufacturers |
| Launch / latest version | First disclosed February 2017 (MTR / xMT). MTR2 generation c. 2019; Gen 2.1–2.6 combinations reported in 2024; high-NA formulation built on the same foundation under development in 2025–26 |
| Pricing model | Not publicly disclosed. Industry-wide, QYResearch estimates the 2024 average EUV resist selling price at about US$1,800 per gallon |
| Volume expectations | The CEO estimates that per-customer requirements range from about 100 gallons a month to 1,000 or more (March 2025) |
| Generation / year | Tool | Reported result |
|---|---|---|
| Early xMT/MTR (2016–2017) | NXE and interference lithography | Metal-free, no post-exposure bake; twice the EUV sensitivity of known alternatives (company claim) |
| 2,018 | NXE (via imec) | 18 nm features (7 nm-node equivalent) and 16 nm features (5 nm-node equivalent) |
| MTR2 (c. 2019) | ASML NXE:3300 | 16 nm half-pitch lines at 38 mJ/cm², LER 3.7 nm |
| MTR2627 high-opacity matrix | PSI EUV interference lithography | 28 nm pitch at about 53 mJ/cm², LER 4.2 nm. Higher film stiffness allowed thicker films without collapse below 32 nm pitch |
| MTR2627 higher-MTR-ratio | Berkeley MET | 24 nm lines at 48 nm pitch, LER 1.9 nm at 65 mJ/cm² |
| Carbon-PAG series | — | Antimony-containing PAG replaced with a carbon-based PAG, removing the last metal |
| Gen 2.4 (SPIE 2024) | NXE | 14.1 nm lines at 28 nm pitch at 59 mJ/cm², unbiased LER 2.09 nm. Hexagonal pillars at 32 nm pitch, 16 nm diameter at 42 mJ/cm², unbiased LCDU 2.8 nm |
| Gen 2.6 (SPIE 2024) | NXE | Compared with Gen 2.4, LCDU on p32 hexagonal pillars improved by 0.2 nm and biased LWR on p28 lines/spaces by 0.3 nm |
| 2026 (SPIE paper 13983-14) | — | "Advances by multi-trigger resist towards high resolution EUV lithography," presented 24 February 2026 |
Generational record of published lithography results
E-beam resists
The MTR chemistry also works as an electron-beam resist and is compatible with 193 nm optical exposure. IM has patents covering EUV and e-beam resist uses. E-beam products have never been marketed as a separate commercial line, and the company's stated focus is EUV.
Spin-on carbon hard masks — LiquidCarbon™ (divested June 2026)
| Attribute | Detail |
|---|---|
| Description | Fullerene-based, high-carbon spin-on hard-mask formulations as an alternative to CVD amorphous carbon |
| Specifications | Carbon content above 90%, comparable with or above CVD carbon; tunable by concentration, solvent and chemical functionalisation; formulable in fab-ready solvents |
| Applications | Etch masks for complex, high-aspect-ratio structures in high-power AI chips; MEMS/NEMS; 3D chip architectures |
| Commercial history | Licensed to MicroChem Corp. for distribution in February 2015, with Nano-C as producer. Production capacity scaled tenfold in 2018 |
| Current status | Patent portfolio acquired by Nano-C, Inc. on 22 June 2026; terms not disclosed |
Services
IM offers custom formulation and optimisation for customer process stacks, including underlayer and developer co-optimisation. Its published work shows that developer and underlayer choices measurably affect roughness and defectivity. In February 2026 the CEO said IM can create and optimise custom formulations to customer requirements within weeks. The company does not price or report these services separately.
Financial Narrative
Disclosure regime. As a small private company, Irresistible Materials files abridged ("filleted") accounts at Companies House. These do not include an income statement, so revenue, gross profit, operating income, EBITDA, pre-tax income, net income and EPS are not publicly disclosed for any year. The company pays no dividends and has made no buybacks. The balance-sheet figures below come from the filed accounts for the years to 31 March 2024 and 31 March 2025, in GBP thousands. FY2024 values are derived from the reported FY2025 figures and their year-on-year changes.
Funding history
Funding after 2018 was not quantified publicly. That includes the rounds evidenced by the allotment on 31 December 2024, the resolutions of August 2025 and the TOK subscription on 23 October 2025. Issued nominal share capital rose from £60.8645 after the December 2024 allotment to £110.4023 after the October 2025 allotments, an 81% increase in nominal capital. This fits with TOK subscribing for a large block of new (Class A preferred) shares and crossing the person-with-significant-control threshold.
Commentary
Revenue, profitability and cash flow: No income statement is published. Turnover is unreported in both years, and the balance-sheet trajectory shows a loss-making development-stage business. Net assets fell by £2.16 million in FY2025 to −£5.71 million. Without new equity in the year, that fall approximates the FY2025 comprehensive loss, so the annual cash burn is consistent with a ten-person R&D organisation that pays for external EUV tool time and contract synthesis. Operating cash flow, capex and free cash flow are not publicly disclosed.
Balance sheet: Total assets more than doubled to £1.31 million in FY2025, while liabilities rose by £2.91 million to £7.02 million. The excess of liabilities over assets points to funding through debt-like or quasi-equity instruments, such as shareholder loans or convertible instruments, rather than share capital. Whether these liabilities convert into equity in a priced round is not publicly disclosed. A registered charge was satisfied in July 2025. The October 2025 TOK subscription, the creation of preferred shares and the new articles signal a recapitalisation. The year to 31 March 2026, whose accounts were filed on 8 July 2026, is the first to include the TOK investment.
Ratios: ROE, ROA, ROIC, interest coverage, net debt/EBITDA and the cash conversion cycle do not apply because earnings are negative and there is no published income statement. The fall in the liabilities-to-assets ratio from 731% to 536% reflects asset growth, not deleveraging.
Inflection points: The key financial event is the move from angel, Mercia and grant funding to a strategic corporate investor in the form of TOK. TOK reported FY2025 net sales of ¥237.0 billion and expects ¥291.0 billion for FY2026. The investment shifts the funding of manufacturing scale-up and qualification costs, which would otherwise far exceed IM's own resources, onto a partner with an existing resist manufacturing base. The June 2026 sale of LiquidCarbon patents to Nano-C would also have produced non-dilutive proceeds, though the amount is undisclosed, and removed the cost of maintaining that portfolio.
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View Subscription PlansFinancial Detail
Technology Franchise Details
| Technology franchise | Contents | Status | Commercial route |
|---|---|---|---|
EUV photoresists (MTR™ platform) | Multi-Trigger Resist formulations for low-NA (0.33) and high-NA (0.55) EUV; earlier e-beam resist variants | Core and sole continuing business | Joint development with TOK; manufacturing scale-up with TOK and Nano-C; evaluation through imec |
Spin-on carbon hard masks (LiquidCarbon™) | High-carbon (>90% C) fullerene-based spin-on formulations as an alternative to CVD carbon hard masks | Patent portfolio sold to Nano-C on 22 June 2026 | Previously licensed to MicroChem (2015) and made by Nano-C |
Balance Sheet
| Metric | FY2024 | FY2025 |
|---|---|---|
Cash at bank (GBP K) | 187 | 267 |
Total assets (GBP K) | 562 | 1,310 |
Total liabilities (GBP K) | 4,110 | 7,020 |
Net assets (GBP K) | -3,550 | -5,710 |
Employees (average, number) | 9 | 10 |
Margin Analysis (%) and Balance Sheet
| Metric | FY2024 | FY2025 |
|---|---|---|
Total liabilities / total assets (%) | 731 | 536 |
Cash / total assets (%) | 33 | 20 |
Year-on-year change in net liabilities (GBP K) | — | -2,160 |
Key Financials
| Metric | 2013 | 2014 | 2018 |
|---|---|---|---|
Disclosed new funding incl. grants (GBP K) | 290 | 235 | 660 |
Of which government grant (GBP K) | 0 | 0 | 460 |
Region Overview
| Region | Commercial relevance to IM | Key counterparties |
|---|---|---|
Asia-Pacific (Taiwan, South Korea, Japan) | Most of the EUV resist demand pool. QYResearch puts Asia-Pacific at about 82% of the global EUV resist market | TSMC, Samsung, SK hynix (prospective); TOK (Japan) as partner and shareholder |
North America | Leading-edge IDM customer base and manufacturing partner location | Intel and GlobalFoundries (2018 evaluation supply); Nano-C (Westwood, MA); Albany EUV Accelerator (NY) |
Europe | R&D, testing and headquarters; potential for fully European production | imec (Leuven), ASML (Veldhoven), PSI (Switzerland), University of Birmingham |
Capital Markets Data
| Metric | 2013 | 2014 | 2018 |
|---|---|---|---|
Disclosed funding incl. grants (GBP K) | 290 | 235 | 660 |
Round by Date
| Date | Round | Investors | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
30 May 2013 | Angel / venture | Mercia; new UK and US angels | £290k |
Jul 2014 | Angel / grant | US and UK angels; Technology Strategy Board | £235k |
Apr 2018 | Seed extension / grant | Mercia and US angels (£200k); Innovate UK (£460k) | £660k |
31 Dec 2024 | Equity | — | — |
Aug 2025 | Equity | — | — |
23 Oct 2025 | Strategic (Class A preferred) | Tokyo Ohka Kogyo | — |
“—” = not publicly disclosed.
Capital Markets Data (FY2024–FY2026)
| Metric | FY2024 | FY2025 | FY2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
TOK net sales (JPY Bn; FY2026 = company forecast) | 200.9 | 237.0 | 291.0 |
TOK operating income (JPY Bn; FY2026 = company forecast) | 33.1 | 47.4 | 60.6 |
Analyst Conclusions
Management guidance. No financial guidance is published. The operating goals are customer sampling of MTR, manufacturing scale-up to HVM quality with TOK, and adoption by IDMs and foundries for low-NA and high-NA EUV. After the Nano-C sale, the CEO said the goal is to advance MTR towards sampling and manufacturing scale-up.
Consensus expectations. There is no analyst coverage. Industry forecasts for the EUV resist market range from about 15% to more than 20% CAGR through the end of the decade.
Bull case
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The TOK channel removes the scale-up barrier. A top-three supplier with existing fab qualifications, ISO QC and capacity is adding MTR to its portfolio. This replaces the biggest obstacle for a ten-person company, which is credible volume supply, with a partner whose FY2026 operating income is forecast at ¥60.6 billion.
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High-NA physics favours MTR's design. High-NA needs thinner films (depth of focus below 20 nm), higher absorbance and lower blur. MTR's high-opacity, small-molecule, multi-trigger design targets exactly these constraints, and all major foundries and Samsung DRAM are now committed to high-NA between 2028 and 2030.
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Regulation and contamination create a structural opening. A resist that is both PFAS-free and metal-free could become the preferred choice where MOR raises metal concerns and fluorinated CARs face REACH restrictions.
Bear case
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Incumbent CARs keep winning. imec's September 2026 single-exposure high-NA CAR patterning at 22 nm pitch suggests CARs may cover critical A14/A10 layers, which narrows the window for a new platform.
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Execution and time. Nine years after IM's first EUV disclosure there is still no named production customer. Published NXE doses (42–59 mJ/cm²) remain well above the sub-30 mJ/cm² claim, and qualification cycles are long.
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Balance-sheet fragility and partner leverage. With net assets of −£5.71 million (FY2025), repeated dilution and a strategic shareholder that also sells competing products, value may accrue mainly to TOK, whether through partnership terms or an eventual takeover at a modest price.
Key catalysts and monitorables (next 12 months)
First announced customer sampling programme for MTR via TOK: Expected timing: 2026–2027; Why it matters: Turns technical credibility into commercial traction
SPIE Advanced Lithography + Patterning 2027 results: Expected timing: February 2027; Why it matters: Evidence of sub-30 mJ/cm² dose and high-NA performance
imec high-NA (EXE) evaluations of MTR: Expected timing: 2026–2027; Why it matters: Independent high-NA validation
Birmingham team and laboratory expansion: Expected timing: Ongoing 2026–2027; Why it matters: Execution of TOK-funded plan
Further capital raise or change in TOK's holding: Expected timing: Any time; Why it matters: Signals funding runway or acquisition intent
Confirmation statement (shareholdings): Expected timing: By March 2027; Why it matters: Updated ownership structure
Competitor high-NA milestones (CAR, MOR, dry resist): Expected timing: Ongoing; Why it matters: Size of the window for a new platform
Analyst verdict. Irresistible Materials is a classic deep-technology materials option: one patented chemistry, a very small team and a long development history, now attached to one of the strongest commercial partners available in its niche. The October 2025 TOK investment is the most important event in its 17-year corporate history. Before it, IM's central problem was credibility of supply. Chipmakers do not qualify resists from a ten-person company without HVM-grade manufacturing, quality control and supply assurance. TOK fixes that problem at a stroke, and its PSC-level stake and board seat give it a direct interest in MTR's success. The June 2026 sale of LiquidCarbon to Nano-C completes the change into an EUV resist pure-play with a clear story.
The technical case is credible but not yet decisive. Over successive generations MTR has steadily reduced roughness, from 3.7 nm to about 2.1 nm unbiased LER, and it has removed metals and PFAS from the formulation. It addresses the exact constraints that high-NA lithography tightens. The sensitivity numbers in the published record still lag the company's claims, however, and incumbent CARs have extended further into high-NA than many expected. The real test is whether TOK and IM can show customers a dose-and-roughness combination that CAR and MOR cannot match, on specific layers such as contacts and pillars, before process-of-record decisions for A14/A10 and high-NA DRAM are fixed in 2027–2029.
Financially the company remains fragile on a standalone basis. It had negative equity of £5.71 million at March 2025, depends on equity funding, and does not disclose revenue or deal terms. That fragility now matters less than TOK's commitment. The most likely outcomes, in descending order, are deeper integration into TOK, ending in full acquisition if MTR qualifies; a licensing-led commercial model through TOK; or stagnation if CAR extension closes the window. For industry observers, IM is best seen as TOK's call option on a post-CAR resist chemistry. The next 12–24 months of sampling and high-NA data will decide whether that option is exercised.
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View Subscription PlansExecutive Leadership
Board of Directors
| Name | Role | Appointed | Born | Nationality / residence | Background |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dan Armbrust | Chair, non-executive director | 1 Sep 2019 | Nov 1961 | American / United States | Former President and CEO of SEMATECH; earlier a corporate officer at IBM in process development and manufacturing; co-founder and initial CEO of Silicon Catalyst (2014); former CEO and chair of the Photovoltaic Manufacturing Consortium; chair of Salience Labs; director of Aligned Carbon and Halo Industries. BS in Ceramic Science and Engineering from Penn State; graduate degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute |
Dinesh R. Bettadapur | Chief Executive Officer, director | 31 Jan 2025 (CEO announced 11 Mar 2025) | Apr 1964 | Indian / United States | Former CEO of ASML MaskTools; executive at Silvaco; programme manager on Intel's Itanium processor; roles at Lam Research; led three Silicon Valley start-up exits |
Alex P.G. Robinson | Co-founder, Chief Technology Officer, director | 22 Dec 2016 | Nov 1973 | British / United Kingdom | Inventor of the multi-trigger resist concept; academic at the University of Birmingham School of Chemical Engineering; co-founder of University of Birmingham spin-out ChromaTwist |
David A. Ure | Co-founder, director | 16 Mar 2009 | Mar 1974 | British / United States | Founding executive director; led early commercialisation and Innovate UK project management |
Patrick Wilmerding | Non-executive director | 27 Feb 2013 | Mar 1970 | American / United States | Joined with the 2013 round, which included US angel investors; further background not publicly disclosed |
Katsumi Ohmori | Non-executive director (TOK nominee) | 23 Oct 2025 | Oct 1967 | Japanese / Japan | Director, Executive Officer and Division Manager, Research and Development Division, Tokyo Ohka Kogyo |
Mercia Fund Management (Nominees) Limited | Corporate director | 18 Aug 2011 | — | — | Nominee vehicle of Mercia (investor since 2011); company no. 06813379 |
Board of Directors — David Coleman
| Name | Role | Tenure | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
David Coleman | Director (Mercia) | 18 Aug 2011 – 23 Oct 2025 | Stepped down on the day TOK's subscription completed |
Stuart K. McIntosh | Chairman | 27 Feb 2013 – 31 Mar 2019 | Former president of ASML; about 40 years in the semiconductor industry |
David L. Bradley | Company secretary | 16 Mar 2009 – 31 Mar 2013 | — |
Mark Shepherd | CEO (executive, not on the statutory board register above) | 2014 – early 2025 | Earlier CEO of spin-outs from the University of Manchester and Queen Mary University of London; experience at Xaar, Cambridge Graphene and 2-DTech; co-founder of ChromaTwist |
Tim Hazell | Board member (Mercia) | From 2014 | Appointed alongside Shepherd's arrival |
Warren Montgomery | VP, Commercialization and Strategy | Mid-2010s onward | Formerly at CNSE (Albany), Applied Materials, LSI Logic, ASML, AZ Electronic Materials and IBM |
Major Shareholders
| Holder | Type | Basis of disclosure |
|---|---|---|
Tokyo Ohka Kogyo Co., Ltd. | Strategic corporate investor | Registered as a person with significant control from 23 October 2025 (Companies House PSC register), which means more than 25% of shares or votes, or significant influence |
Mercia (Mercia Fund Management / Mercia Asset Management) | Venture investor since 2011 | Board seat held through nominee company |
University of Birmingham | Founding institution | Named as a prior funder in the February 2026 release |
UK and US angel investors | Private individuals | Rounds in 2013, 2014 and 2018 |
Nano-C, Inc. | Strategic partner and backer | Named as a backer in the March 2025 CEO interview |
Competitive Landscape
Key Competitors
| Competitor | Platform | Positioning relative to IM |
|---|---|---|
Tokyo Ohka Kogyo (TOK), Japan | EUV CAR; now MTR partner | Market-leading resist supplier; investor and co-developer. Collaborator and also owner of a competing CAR line |
JSR Corporation (incl. Inpria), Japan/USA | EUV CAR and metal-oxide resist (Inpria) | Leading CAR supplier to Samsung and TSMC; owns Inpria MOR, the main alternative "new platform"; taken private by the state-backed Japan Investment Corporation |
Shin-Etsu Chemical, Japan | EUV CAR, underlayers | Top-three supplier with deep integration in leading foundries |
Fujifilm Electronic Materials, Japan | EUV CAR, developers | Launched EUV resists in 2024 |
Sumitomo Chemical, Japan | EUV CAR | Established ArF/EUV supplier |
Dongjin Semichem, South Korea | EUV CAR | Korean domestic champion, supported by Samsung localisation |
DuPont, USA | Resists, underlayers | Broad lithography materials portfolio |
Lam Research, USA | Dry (vapour-deposited) metal-organic resist | Equipment-based alternative platform targeting high-NA |
Merck KGaA / EMD Electronics, Germany | Lithography materials, underlayers | Adjacent materials supplier |
Brewer Science, USA | Underlayers and spin-on carbon | Adjacent; competed with IM's divested spin-on carbon line |
Key Competitors by Company
| Company | Ownership | EUV platform | Latest fiscal year net sales | Latest fiscal year operating income | Employees |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Irresistible Materials | Private (TOK PSC) | MTR molecular, metal-free | Not publicly disclosed (FY Mar 2025) | — | 10 (FY2025) |
Tokyo Ohka Kogyo | Listed (TSE: 4186) | CAR (plus MTR via partnership) | ¥237.0bn (FY Dec 2025, +17.9%) | ¥47.4bn (FY Dec 2025, +43.2%) | Not shown |
“—” = not publicly disclosed.
