NEXEON AWARDED FUNDING FOR SILICON MATERIALS SCALE-UP

Battery materials developer and manufacturer Nexeon has received a boost to its plans for high volume manufacture with the awarding of almost £2 million from the government’s Automotive Transformation Fund (ATF).

The Milton Park-based business will use the funds to install a larger scale manufacturing facility, meeting the rapidly increasing demand for silicon anode material for battery evaluation and cell qualification programmes in the UK automotive industry.

The ATF fund is managed by the Advanced Propulsion Centre, based at the University of Warwick.

Dr Scott Brown, CEO of Nexeon, said: “We have already doubled in size this year, and this will support our commitment to achieve large-scale manufacturing capability.”

Ian Constance, CEO, Advanced Propulsion Centre. added:“I am pleased this project has been successfully funded, sharing part of £15 million from our Scale-Up Readiness Validation competition.

“With this support, the APC aims to increase confidence in large-scale manufacturing investments to build electrified supply chains in the UK.

“It is vital, in the transition to net zero, that the automotive sector seizes the opportunity to grow the industry, create or safeguard jobs and build on the expertise anchored here in the UK.”

Last month, Nexeon announced a further major expansion programme following a successful funding round resulting in more than $200 million raised from investors including Ingevity Corporation and SKC.

Pennant International sees return to positive earnings

Training tech provider Pennant International Group, which has its headquarters in Cheltenham, has seen a return to positive earnings for the first half of the year.

It reported Group revenues for the period of £6.9 million of which around 65 per cent were recurring.

More than half of its revenues were generated from software licensing and associated activities, up from 35 per cent in the same period last year, and gross margin doubled to 41 per cent, up from

21 per cent in the first half of 2021. Chairman John Ponsonby said: “As a result of management’s continued efforts to deliver the Group’s strategy, we now have a leaner, more streamlined organisation, with an increasing proportion of recurring revenues from software and services.

“This provides greater forward visibility and a solid platform from which to grow the business and enhance shareholder value.”

Pennant’s three-year order book at the end of the half year stood at £27 million.

Oxford-based Plyable, which says it is the world’s leading custom composite mould producer, has raised £2.85 million in its latest funding round.

The fund-raise was led by Maven Capital Partners one of the UK’s most active investors in growing businesses, alongside Solvay Ventures. Existing investor Forward Partners has also returned to participate in the round.

Plyable has developed proprietary software that uses the latest AI and machine learning technology to automate the quoting, design and manufacture of composite tooling. Its innovative platform is helping clients to create prototypes that are 20 per cent cheaper while significantly reducing end product lead times compared to standard methods. It works by taking a customer’s CAD file, analysing its mould-ability as well as highlighting potential areas for improvement in seconds. Machine learning is then used to build quotes solely based on component geometry

Transdermal Diagnostics raises £1.1m in pre-seed round

Transdermal Diagnostics (TD), a Bristolbased MedTech spin-out, has 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.

The funding round was led by QUBIS Innovation Fund, which specialises in innovation focused spin-out companies, and includes Pioneer Group, Immetric, Bristol Private Equity Club, Science Angel Syndicate as well as Innovate UK.