Geopolitics Drive Change: RANsemi CEO Claydon Interview

Picocom Technology, a RAN chip and software company founded in 2018, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Picocom (Hangzhou) Co. Ltd. based in Hangzhou, China. While this was not so much of a problem in the early years of the company, it has become a barrier to sales in more and more countries as US-China tension has ramped, Claydon said. Claydon confirmed that Picocom is loss-making at present.

In 2023, a team comprising Claydon as CEO, Martin Lysejko, Douglas Pulley, and William Robbins decided to form RANsemi. RANsemi operates in the same field as Picocom Technology – semiconductors for radio access networks – and is essentially a continuation of Picocom, but it is UK based and funded and therefore free to sell its products into telecommunications networks around the world. The move leaves Picocom (Hangzhou) free to sell established 5G RAN baseband semiconductors into China and releases RANsemi to sell into the west and continue its development journey.

All four shareholders are active in the company, Claydon said; Lysejko as chief systems architect; Pulley as CTO and Robbins as vice president of engineering. The deal is being done with the knowledge and co-operation of the parent company, he added.

Claydon said that when Picocom was founded in 2018, there was little appetite to invest in UK startups but money was available from China. Almost from the beginning, Picocom Technology became a subsidiary of Picocom (Hangzhou, China). "There's a lot more interest in semiconductors in the west now and we can get funding in the UK," said Claydon.

"RANsemi will continue to make and sell Picocom products but from here on it will develop new products independently," Claydon said. "It's a mutually agreed strategy. Picocom Technology could not be really successful while Chinese owned," Claydon said. He also confirmed that artificial intelligence is heavily involved in radio access networks and therefore provides a new opportunity for RANsemi.

Claydon continues as president of Picocom Technology Ltd. while the details of the transfer of assets and any necessary licensing terms are worked out. However, RANsemi is up and running with offices in the same building as Picocom in Bristol and is preparing its own patent applications.

When asked about investment in RANsemi, Claydon said: "We have some investment already and we are engaged with potential investors." He added that RANsemi is not a "cold startup" because it will have an existing sales revenue that it will obtain from Picocom Technology. "We have enough money to be self-supporting," he said.

For more information, visit the official websites of RANsemi at www.ransemi.com, Picocom at www.picocom.com, and Picocom China at www.picocom.com/cn.