Member Article

Clean tech business secures further investment for growth

An award-winning clean tech business that could drastically reduce the pollution emitted by a range of industrial processes is moving to the manufacturing stage, following a six figure investment round cornerstoned by £280,000 from the Finance for Business North East Technology Fund managed by IP Group plc. The Royal Society Enterprise Fund invested £150,000 with management and business angels investing £477,000.

Nano-porous solutions ltd (n-psl) has developed an Absorbent Media Tube (AMT) technology, a groundbreaking filtration material which has unique performance characteristics and can be used for the efficient removal, recovery and separation of a range of contaminants that include carbon dioxide, volatile organic compounds and moisture. The technology received the Brian Mercer Award for Innovation from the Royal Society when first launched.

The n-psl offering is patent protected and highly innovative and final trials have shown AMT to radically reduce energy consumption by more than 50% across a wide range of applications, including compressed air treatment. The development is particularly noteworthy because the technologies currently used to clean process waste are traditionally heavy consumers of energy themselves.

Ian Fraser, n-psl’s finance director, said: “The investment round secured through the Finance for Business North East Technology Fund and existing investors is enabling n-psl to take our absorbent media tube technology to the manufacturing stage. It is also allowing us to take our portfolio of traditional air treatment products to new markets, with a particular focus on the US.

“The niche, high margin, strong growth applications that have been identified for the technology, particularly those related to the treatment of compressed air within rail and aerospace sectors, are already attracting big names within the relevant industries and the customer base continues to grow.”

This is a second round of funding for the Gateshead-based business, which in 2009 received a significant investment to commercialise the technology from the Royal Society Enterprise Fund and business angels John Clough and Dave Routledge, both formerly of Eaga Plc.

Originally a spin out of Bath University, n-psl has been founded and driven by Colin Billiet who successfully built North East based domnick hunter Plc into a leading global business in the filtration market. n-psl is headquartered in Team Valley and has grown to more than 20 people.

Nick Edgar, investment manager at IP Group plc, commented: “The North East is building a real name for itself in green technology and n-psl is another great example of this. The n-psl team have a strong track record and the company’s product offering has significant energy, performance and cost benefits relevant to many markets. The company has a strong continued focus on innovation and is working closely with Newcastle University and others to build on its technology advantage.

“The business is enjoying strong early traction and it has the potential to grow into a world-leading company specialising in high value-added purification applications.”

For more information on the Finance for Business North East Technology Fund, please visit: www.thenortheasttechnologyfund.com.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Sarah Waddington .