The Institute has benefitted from several large-scale investments including £13 million from European Structural Funds, £17.3 million from the UK Research Partnership Investment Fund and £12 million from the Welsh Government. All of which will help fund the University’s new Translational Research Facility, due to open in 2021, on its Innovation Campus.

The Institute was formed following the joint venture between Cardiff University and IQE which was established in 2015 to create the Centre for Compound Semiconductors which focusses on materials and commercial development.

The vision is for Cardiff University to be a founding and key partner in the development of the first compound semiconductor cluster in Europe. Providing the small to medium scale fabrication capacity to complement activity at other cluster partners, with the expertise and capability to translate academic excellence through to practical, manufacturable devices and integrated subsystems with the ultimate aim of generating economic impact through commercial and academic exploitation of compound semiconductor technologies.

In August 2018 the UK Government announced funding to expand the catapult centres developing a range of cutting edge new technologies across the UK which included further funding of £51.3 million for the compound semiconductor catapult in Cardiff. The catapult vision is to bridge the gap between ambitious businesses and the academic expertise of the UK’s world-class research communities and will support the development of the compound semiconductor cluster.