HYDROSENSE SECURES £1 MILLION FUNDING BOOST
A young Scottish company has secured £1 million of second round funding to expand their innovative technology into new markets both at home and abroad.
hydrosense, set up in 2002 by Dr Neil Polwart has been handed the Christmas present by a host of investors who are convinced the company has the technology to revolutionise the detection of pathogens in industrial processes.
The award is the second financial boost for the organisation this year - in April the Linlithgow based company secured £0.5 million of investment. The business has also benefited from the type of support available from Scottish Enterprise’s High Growth Start-Up Unit over the last two years.
hydrosense has combined optical and biological sensing technology to develop a hand held detection kit which allows on the spot detection of dangerous pathogens such as legionella. The kit significantly cuts the time and costs associated with traditional lab based testing which can run into several days.
Currently employing eight people and aiming to move into new premises on the Sun Microsystems campus, the funding boost will triple staff numbers in the next two years. The investment package will advance plans for product development and help identify opportunities in new markets including the industrial process monitoring and oil and gas industries.
Founder of Hydrosense, Dr Neil Polwart said:
“The market potential of our technology is limitless. This funding not only allows us to test what opportunities may be available in new markets both at home and abroad but provides us with the facilities and staff to act on these opportunities and deliver world beating technology to the global market place.
“We think 2005 is going to be an even bigger year for hydrosense - we are currently in talks about other exciting applications for our technology and we have some great prospects for the first half of next year.
Chief Executive of hydrosense and a former Vice President of Sun Microsystems, Ian Bell added: “We are naturally delighted with this development which takes hydrosense onto a completely new level – we really are setting the benchmark for this type of technology and our ambition does not stop there. We want to see even more growth next year and really push ourselves on the international front.”
The investment package was led by Barwell Plc along with Aurora Private Equity Ltd, WL Ventures and Scottish Enterprise. William McIntosh of Lindsays working on behalf of the Investors was commended by hydrosense along with the company’s legal team at McGrigors. Dand Carnegie Consulting assisted by pulling together the final financial package for the company.
Managing Director of Barwell, Alec Mackie said: “We are pleased to be backing a highly motivated team with their eyes firmly set on reaching a worldwide market. Our partnership with SE’s Co-Investment Fund has let us pull the funding together faster than would otherwise have been the case, ensuring continuity of funding during the critical development stage of hydrosense Limited. 2005 should prove an interesting year for us all.”
Director of WL Ventures, Kathy Greenwood, who led a seedcorn round of investment at the start of the year commented: “hydrosense is a young, ambitious company whom we first supported with product development funding in partnership with the Scottish Co-Investment Fund. We are delighted now to welcome aboard Barwell and Aurora and look forward to a successful 2005.
Director of the High Growth Unit at Scottish Enterprise, Andy McNab said:
“This is a great achievement for Neil and his company especially in the difficult investment climate we have at present where we wish to introduce new disruptive technologies to the market.
“Investors are always interested in a world beating idea however especially if there are talented and committed people behind it to drive an idea forward into a thriving international business. “
Notes to Editors
About hydrosense
hydrosense was founded by Neil Polwart in 2002 to develop world leading technology for the detection of pathogens in water. The company combines optical and biological sensing technology into a rugged, portable hand-held test platform. hydrosense is based in Linlithgow and employs eight staff. The company's innovative technology has won two SMART:Scotland Awards.
For more information contact the company on +44 (0)1506 840 888 or visit www.hydrosense.biz
About Barwell Plc
Barwell Plc is a privately funded Glasgow based venture capital company. The Barwell team has a strong accounting background and seek to add value to investee companies through their financial and accounting skills, as well as their considerable business experience. A “hands on” investor focusing on smaller companies where investments fall into the range of £75,000 to £250,000, Barwell have led this funding round for hydrosense Limited.
About Aurora Private Equity Ltd
Aurora Private Equity Limited, the first Aberdeen based Business Angel equity provider, opened its doors for business in August 2003, with a focus on emerging and established businesses with growth prospects. Aurora is a private initiative on the part of a local group of entrepreneurs who collectively will make investments in the £50,000 to £1,000,000 range in suitable companies and help plug the "equity gap" left open by the mainstream Venture Capital companies and the various public sector initiatives.
About WL Ventures
W L Ventures (incorporating West Lothian Venture Fund), is a joint venture between Bank of Scotland and West Lothian Council, set up in response to the growing demand for funding from local entrepreneurs. WLV is primarily an early stage investor looking at proposals from seedcorn to start up through to profitability and expansion.
About the Scottish Co-investment Fund
The Scottish Co-investment Fund (SCF) is a market driven, highly innovative 'product' aimed at substantially increasing the number of and capacity for investment of private sector investors active in the Scottish early stage market. Through the SCF, SE provides equity funding to SMEs on a (purely commercial) co-investment basis with selected Co-investment Partners. To achieve this, we reach Co-Investment Manager's Agreements with private sector partners. Each co-investment partner is allocated an amount of co-investment funds available for use in individual investments.
About Scottish Enterprise High Growth Unit
The High Growth Unit was founded 2002 to work intensively to deliver 30 high-growth start-up projects over a three year period who have a potential valuation of £5 million within the same timescale.
The Unit taps into a high-value network of expertise and experience, used to assess and support the development of potential start-ups. The team addresses the whole range of issues relating to the development of a high-tech new venture, including business planning, technical and market appraisal, IPR and patents, team building, fund-raising and legal issues, tailoring their intensive support to the needs of the individual project.
For further information, please contact Fiona McGowan at Scottish Enterprise on info@gentaur.com