Bristol tech secures more than £8.5M to scale waste-to-energy technology

Bristol waste-to-energy company WASE has secured £8.5 million to unlock the power of waste. The round was led by Extantia Capital, with participation from Hitachi Ventures, WEPA Ventures, the family venture capital firm of the European multigenerational family business WEPA, and Engie New Ventures, the CVC arm of the global energy company Engie.

Other investors include Elbow Beach Capital and Empirical Ventures. The round includes £2.4 million in non-dilutive funding. The round earmarks funds for the company to scale operations and execute multi-million pounds of signed contracts and projects with customers.

The company said: "The investment is crucial in the next stage of our scale-up strategy and the delivery of our proprietary Electro-Methanogenic Reactor (EMR) technology to customers. We are excited for the coming years and the impact the investment will enable us to achieve."

From maximising the recovery of biogas from organic matter in wastewater to ensuring Anaerobic Digestion plants get the highest yields. WASE's units increase biogas generation by 30 per cent, up to ten times faster than AD. The tech also increases the methane content of biogas to more than 80 percent compared to conventional AD where methane contents of 50-60 per cent are more typical.

Its plug-and-play system fits into existing infrastructure and is 50-70 per cent smaller than what is currently available. The modular solution allows customisation, making it much easier for companies to deploy at their site, resulting in more energy production and lower costs in the long run.

Thomas Fudge, Founder and CEO of WASE, said: “We want our technology to set a new standard in the waste treatment and energy sectors, by not only optimising waste breakdown but by boosting methane production across the board.

“We’re seeing a future of Waste-to-Energy that maximises economic and environmental benefits for all players involved, and we aim to play a major part in this transition by becoming leaders in the biogas market. Extantia and ENGIE, who deeply understand this sector, and all the investors supporting us in this round, will be invaluable resources to help us achieve this.”

“WASE’s approach doesn’t just increase biogas and biomethane yields from the AD process, making it more profitable and productive, it is reshaping the way industrial businesses are thinking about their resources,” said Carlota Ochoa Neven Du Mont, Principal at Extantia. “We think their cutting-edge technology, the know-how they have built-in commercialising their wastewater solutions, their existing supplier relationships, and their capital-efficient approach positions them well ahead of competitors in this space – and we’re delighted to support them.”

“ENGIE has the ambition to develop 10 TWh per year of biomethane production capacity in Europe by 2030. We want to accelerate the energy transition and strengthen Europe’s sovereignty. This participation into WASE is a concrete step to deploy innovative technology onto the market and to allow greater efficiency and competitiveness,” added Camille Bonenfant-Jeanneney, Managing Director of ENGIE Renewable Gases Europe."