Edinburgh-based pureLiFi has appointed joint administrators from BTG after failing to secure further funding, with all 42 employees made redundant immediately. The light-based wireless communications firm had raised more than £35m from over ten investors since 2012, including the Scottish National Investment Bank.
pureLiFi was founded in 2012 to commercialise LiFi, a technology that transmits data using light rather than radio frequency, positioning it as an alternative to WiFi and 5G. The company built a globally patented intellectual property portfolio and, in recent years, moved into manufacturing its own hardware.
Kenny Craig and Kevin Mapstone of BTG were appointed joint administrators on 31 August 2026. The failure was made public on 2 September. Every one of the company's 42 staff has been made redundant.
The cap-table story is one of sustained backing that could not close the gap to profitability. More than £35m was raised across more than ten investors over 14 years, with the Scottish National Investment Bank among the names on the register. That capital funded product development, patent filings and, latterly, a shift into hardware production.
Thomas McKay, managing partner of BTG in Scotland and Northern Ireland, said the business had generated revenue from groundbreaking proprietary technology but simply ran out of money before crossing into profitability.
He identified the strategic pivot as the decisive factor. Moving into manufacturing its own hardware, rather than licensing its patented technology to third-party manufacturers, proved more costly than the company had anticipated — a shift that raised working capital requirements without a matching increase in near-term revenue.
By the end of the second quarter of 2026 the company had run out of cash flow and was seeking additional investment to cover losses until it reached break-even. No further money was forthcoming, leaving directors with no alternative to administration to stop debts rising.
For shareholders, an administration of this kind typically means equity is written off in full, with proceeds flowing to secured and unsecured creditors ahead of any return to the ordinary share register.
The administrators' stated priority is to identify business assets and realise maximum value for creditors, singling out the intellectual property built up over years of development. Those patents are now the principal recoverable asset, and their sale will determine what creditors receive. Affected staff are being directed to Partnership Action for Continuing Employment and the Redundancy Payments Service.
Original source: DIGIT — https://www.digit.fyi/edinburghs-purelifi-enters-administration-all-42-jobs-lost/
