Nova Pangaea Technologies, the U.K. company which sustainably converts biomass into valuable feedstocks for biofuels, biochemicals and biopolymers, has raised a further £900,000 from investors following successful trials of its technology.
The latest funding has come from NPIF –Mercia Equity Finance, which is managed by Mercia and part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund, the U.K government’s Future Fund and existing private investors, and will support the company in the run-up to a planned Series A investment later in the year.
As part of the latest investment, the company has strengthened its executive management team with the appointment of Neil Guilder as chief financial officer (CFO), Neil Hindle as chief technology officer and Peter McGenity as chief commercial officer.
Neil Guilderhas over 25 years’ experience as CFO of ambitious SMEs where he has led successful development financing and corporate growth. Neil Hindlehas over 20 years’ industry experience and will lead the technical development and operations of the REFNOVA patented process. Peter McGenity has over 30 years’ international executive experience in renewable energy, ethanol and agri-processing and will drive the company’s commercial development.
Refnova is a multistage, continuous thermo-chemical process that fractionates biomass into its constituent sugars and chemicals. Refnova is available to agricultural biomass and forestry producers around the world and works across multiple feedstocks including bagasse, wheat straw, corn kernel fibre and tree matter.
The demonstration plant was completed in December 2019 and following successful trials, gained its first international customer in March this year. The latest funding round brings the total raised to £3 million with a full series A funding to come later this year.
Sarah Ellerby, CEO at Nova Pangaea Technologies said, “It’s been a transformative six months for Nova Pangaea as we continue to accelerate our commercial offering and move towards a potential Series-A financing. This oversubscription of existing shareholders and support from Future Fund is a key indicator of the level of commitment from our shareholders to execute on the high-level of commercial interest in our technology. With the executive team in place, we are now in a position to execute the growth plan.”
Simon Crabtree, investment manager with Mercia, said, “Nova Pangaea’s technology has the potential to help break our reliance on oil and create hundreds of jobs in the years ahead. The technology has already been successfully trialed and this latest investment will allow the team to collect more data to prove its effectiveness as it looks to target the global marketplace.”
Grant Peggie, director at the British Business Bank, said, “NPIF continues to provide vital funding to Northern businesses across the region. We are pleased to continue this support, and are proud to work in partnership the Thames Valley Combined Authority and with Mercia and our other fund managers to make a real impact on the small business community, creating jobs and supporting innovation to unlock the North’s potential.”
The Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund project is supported financially by the European Union using funding from the European Regional Development Fund as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020 and the European Investment Bank.
