Bristol Company Set to Revolutionise Data Centre Technology

Bristol Company Set to Revolutionise Data Centre Technology

[Posted on 07 July 2008]

A local company, based in the University of Bristol's SETsquared Business Acceleration Centre, has developed a pioneering new technology that promises to radically improve the efficiency of high performance data centres across the world.

Data centres, which house the IT assets of large organisations, are growing rapidly in terms of the number of computer servers and storage systems. However, the more they grow the more inefficient they become in relation to performance, power consumption and cost of ownership. With the pervasion of services such as YouTube and the growing trend towards video streaming from corporations such as the BBC, the problem is set to escalate. This is reflected by the market research firm Dell'Oro forecasting a market of $4.8 billion for high-speed data centre networks in 2011.

Gnodal Ltd, who recently closed £1.1 million in first round funding from a syndicate of investors led by South West Ventures (part of the YFM Group), is developing a revolutionary technology that directly addresses the problems of network inefficiency. Gnodal's products will improve performance and lower power consumption by an order of magnitude, and significantly reduce the cost of running data centres.

Fred Homewood, a University of Bristol Visiting Fellow, and other local entrepreneurs, identified the business opportunity and set up Gnodal in the SETsquared business incubator facility. Matt Hatch, an alumnus of the University, originally came to the SETsquared Business Acceleration Centre as a mentor, but quickly recognised the business opportunity and joined Gnodal as co-founder.

"By locating ourselves in SETsquared and taking advantage of the range of services on offer, we were able to kick-start the company very quickly and effectively," said Hatch. "SETsquared provides a great platform and network for technology start-ups to grow and flourish, and Bristol is the right place to locate a company like Gnodal in terms of available talent and knowledge from the local high-tech sector. The South West has become the single most entrepreneurial region in Europe for the silicon industry."

Fred Homewood, Gnodal's CEO added, "We are very excited about the potential of our technology. Gnodal's products will enable a new generation of data centres to execute applications much more effectively. And, as importantly, significantly reduce the running costs and power requirements. Being based in Bristol has allowed us to rapidly build a critical mass of experienced engineers and have access to some of the very best business advice available."

Nick Sturge, SETsquared Centre Director commented, "Gnodal is a fantastic company, typical of the quality of high-tech, high-growth ventures we are seeing come through the Centre. We are delighted to be working with Gnodal to accelerate their growth."

For further information please contact:

Sadia Rooney
Research and Enterprise Development, University of Bristol
Tel: +44 (0)117 928 8676, Email:sadia.rooney@bristol.ac.uk
www.bristol.ac.uk/research