PragmatIC appoints Erik Langaker as Chair of the Board to support increasing scale of business
- Date 8 Sep 2020
PragmatIC, a world leader in flexible electronics, has appointed Erik Langaker as independent Chair to complement its existing strong Board of Directors. This appointment comes alongside additional funding of over £13 million to support ongoing production ramp-up, accelerate manufacturing optimisation and drive continued product innovation.
Erik Langaker has an extensive background of developing and commercialising technology businesses, with 30 years’ international experience in private equity and entrepreneurial ventures. He has been an active investor and Chair, or Board Director, in 25 companies. Many are in complementary sectors to PragmatIC, such as his current Chair position at Kezzler AS whose patented item-level serialisation technology helps brands combat counterfeit goods, eliminate unauthorised distribution, and improve consumer engagement. As Chair of CMR Surgical Ltd, he helped raise more than £250 million, leading them to an increase in valuation from £30 million to well over £1 billion while the number of employees increased from around 40 to nearly 500. He brings extensive experience in chairing public companies, most recently as Chair of European R&D engineering company Data Respons ASA which was sold to AKKA Technologies SE.
Mr Langaker will also invest his own funds in the Company’s current funding round.
Scott White, CEO of PragmatIC, commented: “We are delighted to welcome Erik to the Board. He brings us valuable experience alongside market-relevant knowledge at a pivotal time, as we scale the business towards our vision of a trillion flexible integrated circuits.”
Erik Langaker said: “I am honoured to join PragmatIC and its talented team of innovators at such an exciting time as they are poised to disrupt the electronics industry as well as the supply side of many consumer goods industries. With an increasing focus on and need for a circular economy and transparent supply chains, PragmatIC is ‘just in time’ in bringing a cost effective and highly scalable solution to the market. Opportunities in RFID alone have the potential to exceed a trillion units, and I can see immediate possibilities across healthcare, logistics and retail just from within my own network of contacts.”