* CEO hopes to move towards profitability in next 12 months
* In late-stage talks on solar cells agreements
* Shares rise 5.8 percent
By Victoria Bryan
LONDON, Oct 28 (Reuters) - British technology firm Nanoco says demand for the "quantum dots" it produces for use in LED backlighting and solar cells is growing fast and that it hopes to moves to profitability within the next 12 months.
"The market has really started to move for us," Chief Executive Michael Edelman told Reuters in an interview. "We're working hard to meet the demand that seems to be mushrooming in front of us."
Nanoco's shares were up 5.8 percent at 73 pence at 1247 GMT.
Quantum dots are florescent nano-sized particles of semiconductor material which emit light. They are energy-efficient but their use in products such as televisions, computer and mobile displays has been hindered by price and legislation on the use of heavy metals. Nanoco is moving towards mass-production of quantum dots that do not contain heavy metals, and has already signed two development deals with major Japanese electronic corporations.
"If you're going to get any traction in the electronics market you need to have no heavy metals but our competitors are still based on cadmium," Edelman said.
His comments came after the company, which floated on AIM in May, posted full-year results showing a pretax loss of 0.78 million pounds ($1.28 million), with net cash of 6.6 million.
Edelman said the company, which is currently scaling up production, was cash-neutral at the moment and had no need to turn to shareholders or banks for further funds.
"We try not to put numbers out there but we hope to be moving towards profitability in the next 12 months."
Nanoco expects to sign more deals in the LED market and is also in talks on agreements for the use of its dots in solar cells, where they can be used to absorb light more efficiently.
"We're in late-stage talks with a number of Asian corporation in that area, so we're getting close," Edelman said.
Analyst Samantha Fennell at Zeus Capital says Nanoco has the potential to move from a research group to a multi-million pound business.
"Nanoco is at the point of proving the upscaling technology. We expect newsflow over the coming months to trigger increased interest in the stock," she said in a note. (Editing by Rupert Winchester)