Pulsiv Solar (“Pulsiv” or the “Company”) today announces that it has successfully raised £500,000 via a convertible loan including £250,000 investment from the UK Government’s Future Fund, established to support innovative businesses through the COVID-19 outbreak.
The Future Fund’s investment has been matched by University of Plymouth Enterprise Limited, the commercial consultancy and contract arm of the University of Plymouth, and Frontier IP Group plc (“Frontier IP” or the “Group”), a specialist in commercialising intellectual property and a founding shareholder in Pulsiv. They have invested £200,000 and £50,000 respectively.
The convertible loan forms part of broader plans for funding Pulsiv, a University of Plymouth spin out. The Company recently announced it was in discussions with investors to raise money which, if completed, would be at a significant premium to the current book value at which it is held by the Group. Discussions continue and it is anticipated that any further funding will be in the form of equity. The convertible loan announced today will not affect the Group’s book value of Pulsiv.
The funding will allow Pulsiv to step up development of its novel technology to improve the energy efficiency of power conversion for use in a wide range of industrial applications.
Pulsiv has already announced that it has:
- Started design work funded by a major multinational to incorporate the technology into a new product line
- Engaged in discussions with a number of other large multinational companies about a wide range of further industrial applications
- Filed a further two priority patent applications on top of the one filed late last year. The Company now has eight separate patent families, five of which have progressed to grant, across all major territories worldwide, reflecting the significant amount of development undertaken and the strength of the intellectual property position underpinning it.
The step change in industrial engagement follows the Company successfully developing a series of demonstration products which show the technology not only improves energy efficiency but has the potential to reduce costs.
Robert Bosch Limited, part of Bosch, has been working with Pulsiv to optimise the design of the Company’s energy-efficient solar microinverter prototype. When the prototype moves into full-scale commercial production, it will allow Pulsiv to market microinverters as “Engineered by Bosch”.
“The Future Fund was established to support the UK’s most innovative businesses through the coronavirus outbreak. Following the significant commercial and technical progress recently made by Pulsiv, the Government’s support means we are in an even stronger position to realise the full range of opportunities open to the Company’s technology.”
Frontier IP Chief Executive Officer Neil Crabb
Pulsiv is part of an exciting suite of spinout companies transforming the world-leading research undertaken at the University of Plymouth into commercially available products that can have real-world benefits. This latest success is a further demonstration that governments and industry are recognising its potential, and UoPEL is delighted to support its continued growth.”
Adrian Dawson, Director of University of Plymouth Enterprise Limited
“This funding will be invaluable in supporting our work to commercialise our technology. Alongside the recent steps forward we have taken in commercialising the technology, it gives us grounds to be very optimistic about the future prospects for the Company”
Dr Zaki Ahmed, Technical Director, Pulsiv Solar
