Despite the economic downturn, four University spin-out clean tech companies have received over £12 million in funding.

The four companies – Enecsys, Metalysis Limited, Enval and Camfridge – are part of a growing portfolio of clean tech companies in which Cambridge Enterprise Limited holds equity on behalf of the University as a result of licensing intellectual property and direct cash investments. Clean technology describes products or processes that balance high productivity and efficiency with reduced energy consumption, costs and pollution; the Cambridge Enterprise portfolio now includes nine clean tech companies, with more in the pipeline.

The four recent recipients of new funding are:

Enecsys, a spin-out from Professor Gehan Amaratunga’s research in the Department of Engineering, which has raised $10 million in a Series A funding round. The funds will be used to speed up commercialisation of the micro-inverters developed to convert the energy gathered by solar modules from DC to much more useable AC.

Metalysis, a spin-out from Professor Derek Fray’s research in the Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy, which has raised £5.1 million to develop its environmentally friendly method to produce tantalum and titanium metals and alloys. The funds will mainly be used to support the scale-up of a novel semi-continuous pilot plant.

Enval, a spin-out from research by Dr Carlos Ludlow-Palafox and Professor Howard Chase in the Department of Chemical Engineering, which has developed a pilot plant for environmental recycling technology specifically for laminated packaging waste. Enval recently completed its Series A round of funding led by IQ Capital and other investors including Cambridge Enterprise and members of the Cambridge Angels and Cambridge Capital Group.

Camfridge, a spin-out from research by Professor Derek Fray and Dr Karl Sandeman in the Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy, which is developing a platform for use in key target applications in eco-refrigeration and has received R&D grants from the Carbon Trust and the European Union.

For more information on the clean tech portfolio held by Cambridge Enterprise Ltd, please contact Nick Slaymaker (nick.slaymaker@ enterprise.cam.ac.uk), Investment Manager, Cambridge Enterprise Seed Funds, or visit www.enterprise.cam.ac.uk/

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