A SOLAR power firm which span out of Plymouth University had received a £500,000 injection – and is now worth £5million.
PulsiV Solar has received the investment to continue its development of technology that significantly improves the amount of energy generated by solar panel inverters, which is then harvested for supply to the grid.
The cash has come from fundraising by Frontier IP Group Plc, which specialises in the commercialisation of intellectual property.
It means that Plymouth Science Park-based PulsiV Solar will now accelerate product development, enabling it to embark upon further prototyping and testing in preparation for the initial production of micro-inverters containing its technologies.
Frontier IP's holding in PulsiV Solar has now been revalued to show an uplift of more than £870,000.
The new investment values PulsiV Solar at £5million with Frontier IP retaining an 18.9 per cent stake.
PulsiV Solar was created by Associate Professor Mohamed Zaki Ahmed, in the School of Computing, Electronics and Mathematics.
The latest funding round was led by Frontier IP, the university's strategic IP commercialisation partner, which was instrumental in ensuring the mix of investors and the level of funding matched the needs of the business plan.
Neil Crabb, chief executive of Frontier IP, said: "The technology being developed by our portfolio company PulsiV Solar has the potential to drive significant gains in the energy efficiency of solar panels and other photovoltaic systems.
"We have been delighted to assist with the company's first funding round and will continue to deploy our energy sector experience to take this ground-breaking technology to market."
Results from PulsiV Solar's first prototype show a typical increase of up to 30 per cent in energy generation when compared with conventional inverter technology.
The technology, which is already receiving significant interest from international players, can be integrated into new systems or retrofitted to existing solar panels.
The global solar inverter market is forecast to be worth 7billion US dollars by the end of the year.
PulsiV Solar has received significant support from the university and the PSP as a result of the Growth Acceleration and Investment Network (GAIN), which was founded by the University and Plymouth City Council to provide access to business and growth opportunities, finance and investment, and world-class knowledge and research facilities and equipment.
The terms of the investment enable the university, through its wholly owned trading subsidiary University of Plymouth Enterprise Limited (UoPEL), to retain a 44.1 per cent holding in the issued share capital.
"Frontier IP has played a key role in enabling us to successfully close our first fundraising," said Dr Zaki Ahmed, chief technology officer of the company. "It is also leveraging its relationships in the energy sector to open up further opportunities as we look to realise the commercial potential of our technology."