Nallatech designs and produces high-performance electronic systems for the aerospace and defence industries, genome research and medical imaging. Its systems are based on reprogrammable chips that are substantially faster than most microprocessors. Searching the human genome for diseases takes days with conventional computers. Nallatech claims that, with its systems, the computing time is cut greatly. In the defence sector, its electronics are used in simulators that BAE Systems employs to test air-to-air missiles. Nallatech was founded in 1993 by Allan Cantle and has offices in Bristol, Glasgow, California and Florida. Its sales grew 72% a year from £556,000 in 2000 to £1.6m in 2002.