Vegetation control products business Weedingtech has secured £500,000 of growth capital in a deal which sees the Low Carbon Innovation Fund (LCIF) inject £250,000.
LCIF, which is managed by green merchant bank Turquoise, has provided the funding so that Weedingtech can commercialise its weed control products to farmers and parks and amenities managers in the public and private sectors.
Its products work by combining hot water, steam and a natural foam to kill weeds, providing what it calls the first commercially viable alternative to chemical herbicides.
Alexander Goldsmith, chairman of Weedingtech, comments, ‘This funding will allow us to build on the success of Foamstream [its natural herbicide] and will help to promote its adoption as a high quality, environmentally-friendly product that can be used anywhere to tackle the perennial problems of managing weeds in public open spaces and on agricultural land.’
Weedingtech’s equity support comes in the same month as two other investments by LCIF. It started by providing £180,000 of a £530,000 commitment to wave technology firm Trident Energy.
It then took part in a transaction which saw natural ventilation company Breathing Buildings net £1 million. LCIF contributed £400,000 as part of the deal.
LCIF is a venture capital fund supported by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) with capital of £12.5m.
The ERDF funding is to be matched with £17 million of private sector investment – generating a reported total of more £30 million of investment in the East of England. The fund runs until December 2015.
The LCIF makes early-stage equity investments in small and medium sized enterprises within the East of England that are developing new and innovative products or processes in a low carbon, environmentally sensitive manner.
Francis Wright, managing director at Turquoise International, says that the merchant bank and LCIF are committed to supporting the kind of ‘ground-breaking’ technologies epitomised by Weedingtech’s products and helping to ensure that funding is made available to assist them on their journey to commercial success.’
