EATRON TECHNOLOGIES NAMED AS ONE OF FASTEST GROWING TECH START-UPS

Intelligent software developer Eatron Technologies has been named as one of the fastest growing tech start-ups in the UK after recent breakthroughs in Germany and Asia.

Eatron Technologies, based at the University of Warwick Science Park, has developed a battery management system (BMS) which intelligently predicts battery usage and ageing profiles to improve software parameters to help the battery last longer.

Eatron’s BMS is being tested on the battery packs of major manufacturers in Germany, Japan and East Asia.

Eatron’s creation of a machine learning programme – part of its intelligent BMS – to estimate the end of a battery’s life has also been successfully patented in the USA.

Dr Umut Genç, managing director of Eatron Technologies, said: “The battery is the most expensive part of an electric vehicle, and in typical consumer products such as laptops and phones, they only last around four to five years before problems develop.

“Depending on how an electric vehicle is driven and charged, the battery pack can vary in lifespan quite significantly.

“Our BMS via edge and cloud computing intelligently detects and models how the drivers use and charge their EVs, and its algorithm automatically adapts to maintain high performance and lifetime of the batteries.

“Our machine learning programme is also incredibly useful for EV fleet operators who can see at a glance which vehicles’ batteries will last longer than others and can diagnose problems early so they can be fixed more cheaply.”

Jane Talbot, Centre Manager at Warwick Innovation Centre, said: “Eatron’s growth in such a short space of time has been nothing short of remarkable.

Bristol climate tech innovator Kelpi lands £3m in seed funding round

Climate tech innovator Kelpi has secured more than £3 million to advance its pioneering technology creating biomaterial coatings from seaweed.

The funding will bring sustainable packaging for the food, drink and cosmetics sectors a step closer to supermarket shelves. Kelpi’s unique coatings will enable recyclable at home or industrially compostable packaging to replace single-use fossil fuel plastics which take hundreds of years to decompose.

Kelpi’s seed round was led by Science Creates Ventures and Green Angel Syndicate, with funding from One Planet Capital and investment from Bristol Private Equity Club, together with private angel investors.

The round includes £665,000 of grant funding from Innovate UK and Kelpi will use the funds to conduct manufacturing pilots for its proprietary coatings for paper and card.

The company has developed highperformance materials from seaweed, with a uniquely strong water barrier, as well as oxygen barrier, grease and acid resistance.

Kelpi CEO and co-founder Neil Morris, said: “This investment enables Kelpi to scale up our pioneering work using seaweed to create bioplastic packaging."