Technology start-up creator Cambridge Consultants has spun off Aveillant and attracted investment for the new venture, which is developing 3D holographic radar that aims to improve aviation safety.
Technology start-up creator Cambridge Consultants has spun off Aveillant and attracted investment for the new venture, which is developing 3D holographic radar that aims to improve aviation safety.
The exact amount has not been disclosed, but a statement says a multimillion-pound investment has been committed from a consortium including Cambridge Consultants, venture firm DFJ Esprit and the wind industry fund Aviation Investment Fund Company.
Aveillant has developed technology, called holographic infill radar, which can distinguish between whirring wind turbine blades and other moving objects. Currently, radar systems may mistake the blades of a wind turbine as being moving objects, possibly other aircraft. The concerns have led to the delay of about 40 wind farm projects in the UK because of objections from the aviation sector, according to the UKTI.
Aveillant’s business will be to supply the technology, equipment and services that will reconcile wind turbines with radar. The founders of Aveillant, Gordon Oswald and Craig Webster, from Cambridge Consultants, will join the new venture as part of the first round of funding.
Ray Edgson, ventures director at Cambridge Consultants, comments, ‘The unique radar offering is a result of our extensive work with aviation and wind energy stakeholders to create a technical solution which fully meets their requirements.’
Alan Duncan, managing partner at DFJ Esprit, continues, ‘The demand for renewable energy is a global one, with governments around the world setting ambitious renewable energy targets. Aveillant provides us with an opportunity to invest in an industry leading 3D radar and a services business capable of unlocking the global potential of thousands of wind turbines, and the millions of units of renewable energy they will produce.’
Cambridge Consultants has created more than 20 companies in the past 50 years.
