Gloucester's Wild Hydrogen one of 16 South West businesses securing investment this summer
Sixteen businesses from across the South West closed equity investment rounds which between them totalling nearly £37.5million. Five of the 16 companies announced their investments publicly (the others are keeping schtum, according to Bristol support organisation TechSpark).
Gloucester-based Wild Hydrogen's carbon negative process converts organic waste into clear hydrogen, while capturing and storing carbon dioxide. It was one of four companies which secured investment through Syndicate Room.The total investment for all four companies was £1 million.
Mark, James and John met at their local coffee stop, united in their passion to tackle climate change and founded Wild Hydrogen in 2021 based on an idea that Mark had been musing on for many years.
Six months, two prototypes and much coffee later - the technology was proven and protected. It dawned on the trio that this technology is a real game changer. Collaborating with Cranfield University and Helical Energy (Mark’s business) it soon became apparent that the team were extremely well placed to exploit the technology as a force for good.
The story continues with the company now operating out of a site in Gloucester and well on the way to building a commercial plant, proving that there is a viable and sustainable method for creating negative emission fuel.
Boundless Activated Snacking secured a six-figure investment to maintain rapid growth at the gut health snacking brand.
The £650,000 investment – raised from private firms and angels – will be put towards NPD and growing brand awareness. It is the third round of funding for the business, following a £1m raise in 2020 to expand overseas.
Founded by former commodities trader Cathy Moseley in 2017, Boundless makes a range of ‘activated’ nuts, seeds and chips designed to improve gut health.
The business uses a trademarked F.A.B method (flood, activate, bake), which involves the natural ingredients being flooded in salt water to kick-start germination followed by the activation stage to draw out the bitter phytic acid in nuts, seeds or grains before being baked at a low temperature to retain nutrients and make the end product easier to digest.
Ben Jones, co-founder of DTC businesses Graze and Tails, also joined the Boundless board as director and investor following the raise. The £650,000 investment – raised from private firms and angels – will be put towards NPD and growing brand awareness. It is the third round of funding for the business, following a £1m raise in 2020 to expand overseas.
Bristol-based Family wellbeing app, Famli, has crowdfunded £144,000 to help households improve their health and happiness with fun and engaging activities. Focused on exercise, nutrition, and mental health – the three core pillars of wellbeing – Famli’s more than 200 intergenerational activities allow families to build healthier habits into their daily routines.
University of Bristol spin-out Ferryx is a University of Bristol spin-out company that aims to tackle the lack of satisfactory treatments for gut inflammation. Gut inflammation is an excruciating condition and one form, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), affects 6.8 million people worldwide.
Despite its high prevalence, a lack of satisfactory treatments leaves sufferers reliant on medications with significant negative side effects. As a result, patients turn to probiotics as they are regarded as safe and natural alternatives to conventional drugs and their associated side effects.
Ferryx’s lead product, FX856, is a probiotic with demonstrated anti-inflammatory properties that survives and thrives during active inflammation. Currently there is no available probiotic that can function during periods of active inflammation.
Transdermal Diagnostics, a Bristol-based MedTech spin-out, secured £1.1 million to develop the world’s first 100 per cent needle-free platform for blood sugar monitoring.
The company’s technology will allow pain-free and continuous monitoring of sugar levels for people with diabetes using affordable disposable patches. The new round of funding will be used to strengthen the company’s engineering team and prepare for clinical trials.
