Low carbon enterprise Ventive has secured the capital it needs to speed up the roll out of its first patented ventilation products through an angel and venture capital fundraising.
The business, which develops products to reduce heating bills for residents as well as improving air quality, has closed a £900,000 investment.
London-based Ventive was named as a regional winner in the Shell Springboard 2013 competition back in April. The competition aims to find ‘big ideas’ in low carbon enterprise and innovation and has so far awarded £2.25 million to 62 businesses since 2005.
Venture capital fund manager Mercia Fund Management has joined the round alongside the Angel Co-fund, a pot of capital created with funding from the Regional Growth Fund and the government’s business bank to invest alongside syndicates of business angels.
As well as helping with the development of its ventilation products, Ventive will also be using the £900,000 to further its research and development programme and increase market expansion.
Robert Morrison, managing director at Ventive, comments, ‘We are seeing overwhelming interest for our products from our initial target market of social housing.
‘We are delighted with the support our investors have given at many levels.’
New backer Mercia recently backed Warwick Audio Technologies and nanoTherics through its Mercia Growth Fund 1, the first to be made through the fund, and announced that it was launching its Mercia Growth Fund 2, expected to close in June 2013.
The investment in Ventive marks the last transaction to be closed through Mercia Growth Fund 1, and is described by Mercia managing director Mark Payton as an ‘excellent example’ of scalable business offering ‘rapid’ revenue growth against ‘modest’ capital needs.
Andrew Oldfield, head of cleantech at Mercia Fund Management, adds, ‘We have worked with the Ventive founders to help them create a focussed and scalable operation and thus exploit a truly innovative technology.
‘This funding round is an important milestone in the company’s development and a strong validation of Ventive’s technology and management.’
