Mixergy secure £3.6m investment for Internet of Tanks vision
Mixergy press release announced 13/01/20:
Mixergy to heat up the future green home with £3.6m series A
The Oxford University spin-out secures extra funding to develop its home water heating technology that saves energy, lowers bills and reduces environmental impact
Mixergy, the award-winning Oxford University cleantech spin-out company, has raised £3.6m in Series A financing to fuel its next stage of growth in developing innovative and efficient hot water tanks to help decarbonise households and reduce consumer energy usage.
This new phase of investment from Foresight Williams Technology (FWT), Oxford Sciences Innovation, IP Group and Centrica Innovations will further position Mixergy as the leader in the development of residential smart hot water tanks. Powered by cutting-edge machine learning and engineering, the tanks can save up to 20% on hot water bills, provide up to 30% more usable hot water, and deliver hot water up to five times faster.
The funding will support the national roll out of Mixergy tanks with British Gas, serving customers who seek smart clean technology and expanding commercial demand response services which Mixergy has started delivering to the National Grid to help prevent future blackouts.
Peter Armstrong, CEO at Mixergy, said:
“This round comes at an exciting time in markets across the UK, Western Europe and North America. With recent pledges to transition from natural gas in new build properties by 2025 across Europe along with unprecedented volatility in the UK’s electricity balancing market, Mixergy is well positioned to accelerate the low carbon transition through relationships with low cost manufacturing supply chains that cater to a global market.”
Chris Wiles, Senior Investment Manager at Foresight Group, added:
“We are very impressed with Mixergy’s vision of developing a better hot water tank which saves customers energy whilst also facilitating the uptake of intermittent renewable generation. We look forward to supporting Mixergy in the coming years with the roll out of its products across the UK, Europe and North America.”
Matthew Burke, Head of Technology Ventures at Williams Advanced Engineering, added:
“We are delighted to support Mixergy’s growth plans with this investment. Energy efficient performance is at the heart of what we do at Williams Advanced Engineering and Mixergy’s smart hot water tank technology is a great example; heating up faster while using less energy, improving efficiency and reducing cost to the customer; all whilst benefiting the environment.”
Martin Fiennes, Principal at Oxford Sciences Innovation, commented:
“This investment validates Mixergy’s core product – one that is capable of both delivering direct benefits to the consumer while having a positive net impact on energy consumption.”
The Mixergy tank reduces energy consumption and emissions by only heating the water needed by the user, differentiating it from peers that heat using an all-or-nothing approach. Mixergy utilises machine learning, enterprise data dashboards and an app interface to provide an enhanced customer experience. Mixergy has also achieved a market first in being the first hot water product certified to deliver grid balancing services to the National Grid. Through turning on/off when national energy demand misaligns with energy supply, the Mixergy tank can reduce network strain and make more effective use of renewable electricity generation. This has been achieved through developments in sensing and control along with a software platform, which is capable of optimising household heating schedules across a national network of smart connected hot water tanks, the “Internet of Tanks”.
The investment was led by Foresight Williams Technology (FWT), an Early Stage Investor Scheme (EIS) fund with considerable engineering design and consulting experience developed through decades of involvement with Formula 1 motorsport. FWT were joined by Centrica PLC who own British Gas. British Gas are the UK’s largest heating services contractor, utility and strategic launch partner for Mixergy in the UK. Mixergy also enjoyed continued support from existing shareholders Oxford Sciences Innovation and IP Group who also contributed to this round.
ENDS
For more information, please contact Mixergy
Notes to Editors
About Foresight Williams Technology EIS Fund
Foresight and Williams announced the unique collaboration represented by the Foresight Williams Technology EIS Fund in November 2016. It combines the Williams Advanced Engineering team’s expertise with Foresight’s successful investment track record. The Fund enables investors to qualify for relief under the UK Government’s Enterprise Investment Scheme (“EIS”) for investment into early stage UK SMEs with strong intellectual property in their own specialist fields. The Fund plans to make investments of up to £3 million into at least ten qualifying UK SMEs per investor, supporting the next generation of engineering technology success stories in the UK. http://www.foresightwilliams.co.uk/
About IP Group
IP Group is a leading intellectual property commercialisation company which focuses on evolving great ideas into world-changing businesses. The Group aims to address some of the world’s most pressing challenges through the companies we back, allowing us to generate positive social and environmental impact alongside financial returns. The Group has pioneered a unique approach to developing these ideas and the resulting businesses by providing access to business building expertise, capital (through its 100%-owned FCA-authorised subsidiaries IP Capital and Parkwalk Advisors), networks, recruitment and business support. IP Group has a strong track record of success and its portfolio comprises holdings in early-stage to mature businesses across life sciences and technology. IP Group is listed on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange under the code IPO. For more information, please visit our website at www.ipgroupplc.com.
About Oxford Sciences Innovation
Oxford Sciences Innovation (OSI) is a science and technology company that has raised £600 million to back research from the Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences (MPLS) and Medical Sciences divisions of the University of Oxford. In partnership with the University, OSI’s primary focus is to provide capital and scaling expertise to spinout companies. https://www.oxfordsciencesinnovation.com/
About Centrica
Centrica is a leading international energy services and solutions provider, founded on a 200-year heritage of serving people. Through our two customer-facing divisions, Centrica Consumer and Centrica Business, we supply energy, services and solutions to over 26 million customer accounts. We serve customers across the UK, Ireland, North America and Continental Europe through strong brands such as British Gas, supported by around 13,000 highly trained engineers and technicians. We are focused on satisfying the changing needs of our customers, enabling them to transition to a lower carbon future. Our aim is to reduce emissions in line with the Paris climate goals by 2030 and develop a path to net zero by 2050. https://www.centrica.com/
About Mixergy
Mixergy Limited is a spin-out company from the University of Oxford’s Energy and Power Group (EPG). Mixergy won the Clean Energy System Disruptor award in Regen’s Green Energy Awards 2019 series.
