New 10 Green Tech to Watch league highlights region's best green tech companies
A carbon capture company, ventilation and natural light design and manufacturer and a lithium-sulphur battery developer make up three of just ten companies in the inaugural BGF 10 Green Tech to Watch, published in The Sunday Times by Fast Track.
Published in the 20th anniversary edition of the Sunday Times Tech Track 100 ranking of the UK’s fastest-growing private tech companies, the inaugural 10 Green Tech to Watch list recognises private UK-based firms that are developing technology to help mitigate or reverse the effects of human activity on the environment, based on research sponsored by BGF – the UK’s most active investor in growing businesses
Reading-based carbon capture technology developer, Carbon Clean, features at No 2 in the list. Carbon Clean, a leader in low-cost carbon dioxide capture and separation technology, deliver its carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) technology across the cement, steel, refining and energy from waste industries. Employing 17 people, It raised £12.4 million in funding in February and a further £4.3 million in July, taking its total raised to £25m – its investors include US investor Chevron Technology Ventures and Equinor Ventures, part of the Norwegian state-owned multinational energy company.
High Wycombe-based Monodraught, designs, manufactures, installs and maintains natural ventilation, natural lighting and natural cooling systems to create low energy, low carbon and sustainable buildings for healthier and more productive occupants. It comes in at seven in the list. The company employs 82 people and has raised £2.7 million in funding to date, from investors including BGF.
OXIS Energy, which is based in Abingdon at the Culham Science Centre, is developing lithium-sulphur batteries that pack up to five times more energy than lithium-ion batteries, and is building a factory in Brazil scheduled to open in 2023. Employing 78 people, iut has raised £49 million in funding in total, including from South Africa’s Sasol. Since 2010, the company has been run by chief executive Huw Hampson-Jones, 65, who previously led software companies IKIVO AB and Mobeon AB.
Stephen Welton, executive chairman of BGF, who helped judge the finalists, said: “As we come out of the Covid-19 crisis, a major and radical shift to new sectors of the economy is now going to happen much faster. Top of the list is the environment. Turning net-zero emissions pledges into reality is a huge opportunity for investors, but it requires a significant amount of capital. BGF plans to increase our investments into sustainable businesses from 5% today to up to 20% in the next 18 months. The 10 Green Tech to Watch is a great platform to showcase promising companies in this space.”
