News
Close ventures leads £4.36m Funding into Oxsensis.
LONDON (17 July 2007) Close Ventures (www.closeventures.co.uk), the leading Venture Capital Trust Manager, has announced that it has led a £4.36 million round of funding, with Foursome Investments and existing investors, including Seven Spires and Rainbow Seed Fund, into Oxsensis (www.oxsensis.com), an industrial technology firm based in the world famous Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Oxfordshire, England. Oxsensis develops fibre-optic instrumentation for precision controls in super harsh environments such as aero engines, power-generating gas turbines and ultimately automotive applications. It is poised to revolutionise instrumentation in these sectors having developed the world's only commercial temperature and pressure sensors capable of functioning at over 1000 degrees Celsius, a temperature at which no such sensor has been capable of operating to date.
The consortium was attracted not only to the company's world leading technology but also to the large market opportunity and significant market need as illustrated by its ongoing collaborations with some of the world's foremost aerospace and automotive OEMs. Responding to market demands for improved sensors within the hottest parts of engines, to optimize combustion and operating conditions, Oxsensis' technology is capable of enabling significant improvements in engine emissions and efficiency, assisting OEMs to meet increasingly stringent environmental emissions targets. In addition the technology is capable of being deployed in a range of other harsh environments including safety critical applications in aerospace.
David F. Gahan, Chief Executive Officer, Oxsensis said:
"I am delighted; the £4.36m investment will enable Oxsensis to move forward into solid industrial supply of sensors to our customers in major energy consuming industries. We hope to play our part in some major programmes to achieve breakthrough efficiency targets and step-change reductions in emissions. This will put optical sensors right into the heart of some of the world's most advanced engine and power plant developments".
Andrew Elder, Close Ventures said:
"The combination of Oxsensis' world-leading technology, an exceptional management team, combined with multiple large customer-driven market opportunities is highly compelling. The team has demonstrated their ability to commercialise their technology having developed an impressive number of strong commercial relationships to date."
The company was spun out by CLIK, the knowledge transfer arm of the Science and Technology Facilities Council in 2003. Professor Colin Whitehouse, Director of Knowledge Exchange at STFC and Director of CLIK said:
"We are committed to using our facilities and expertise to support and develop excellent companies like Oxsensis.
The injection of cash will enable Oxsensis to continue to grow and develop their products further."