IP Group has led a £960,000 fundraising round into CatalySystems, with its Finance for Business North East Technology Fund providing £666,000.

The Finance for Business North East Proof of Concept Fund managed by Northstar Ventures is providing £144,000, with two angel investors supplying the balance £150,000 across two tranches.

North Yorkshire firm CatalySystems decontaminates water so that it can be re-used in an industrial environment. According to a statement the company’s products are highly energy efficient and are used across a range of sectors such as oil and gas.

The £960,000 growth capital funding will be used to expand the resources in the company and broaden its global presence.

CatalySystems managing director Irene Allcroft says the investment round comes at a good time as the company works with large process industry players and third party corporations.

She adds, ‘Having taken a leading position in the AOP [advanced oxidation process] market, we are competing extremely well against incumbent technologies, giving us an excellent platform to build on.’

Duncan Lowery, senior investment manager at IP Group, comments, ‘CatalySystems represents the type of business we like to back. They have demonstrated the ability to solve a significant market pain in a very large market with scalable offering.’

Publicly-listed IP Group joined AIM in October 2003 and moved to the Official List in June 2006. The £25 million North East Technology Fund is managed by IP Group and is backed by the European Investment Bank and European Regional Development Funds.

The fund looks to invest in all stages of the business cycle with amounts ranging from £50,000 to £1.25 million.