Global energy companies lead £5m investment in ‘smart monitoring’ firm
CorrosionRADAR, a UK business that is a leading provider of ‘smart’ corrosion monitoring solutions, has completed a £5m investment round led by global energy corporates Aramco Ventures, Dow and Kanoo Ventures and backed by Mercia Ventures, investing via the Midlands Engine Investment Fund (MEIF).
The latest funding will enable the Cambridge-based company to accelerate deployment of its monitoring systems worldwide and continue developing new products to improve safety and operations within the oil, gas and petrochemical industries as well as the expanding hydrogen sector.
CorrosionRADAR’s predictive monitoring solutions help energy companies to address a major challenge – corrosion under insulation (CUI) in pipelines, tanks and other vessels is estimated to cost $10bn a year in the oil and gas industry alone.
Its systems use sensors installed on the surface of the asset to provide real-time data on the presence of corrosion or moisture. Together with the use of predictive analytics, they enable businesses to detect and predict risk, improve safety and significantly reduce maintenance costs.
Mercia and MEIF have supported CorrosionRADAR since 2017 when the company was founded as a spin-out from the University of Cranfield. Its systems are now used by major energy companies worldwide.
The company currently employs 22 staff and is on course to increase revenue by 400% in the current year. The latest funding brings the total amount it has raised to date to £11.7m and is expected to create a further 10 jobs in Cambridge.
Dr Chiraz Ennaceur, Chief Executive Officer at CorrosionRADAR, said: “CorrosionRADAR is in a period of rapid growth, and we are leading the way with our predictive CUI monitoring solutions that safeguard critical assets and ensure the longevity of critical infrastructure.
“We’re delighted to have companies such as Aramco Ventures, Dow, Kanoo Ventures and Mercia Ventures on board. This investment will allow us to continue with our ambition to increase our global footprint and develop state-of-the-art solutions that improve industrial processes through the early detection of CUI, promoting more efficient operations.”
Stephen Windsor of Mercia Ventures added: “CorrosionRADAR is transforming the way that energy companies manage inspections and maintenance through the use of digital technology. Having supported the business from the start to help develop its technology, we are pleased to see it being deployed worldwide. The company’s success in attracting investment from major industry players is a real vote of confidence in its solutions.”
The Midlands Engine Investment Fund project is supported financially by the European Union using funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020 and the European Investment Bank.
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About Mercia Ventures
Mercia Ventures is a proactive venture capital investor focused on being the first-choice partner for growth. Mercia Ventures makes equity investments of up to £10million across all sectors, with specialisms in Software, Consumer, Healthcare and Deep Tech.
Mercia Ventures is a trading name of investment funds managed by Mercia Fund Management Limited and Mercia Regional Ventures Limited, part of the Mercia Asset Management PLC Group, and sits alongside the Group’s wider private equity, debt and proprietary balance sheet operations. The Group has 11 offices in the UK, and Mercia Ventures’ national footprint and 48 strong investment team draws on their experiences as founders, PhD scientists, software engineers, corporate financiers and management consultants to help our partner companies successfully achieve their ambitions. As at 30 September 2023, Mercia Asset Management PLC has c.£1.5billion of assets under management. Mercia Asset Management PLC is quoted on AIM with the epic “MERC”.
The Group raises its own Venture Capital Trusts (VCTs) and Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) Funds, and details about open offers can be found through Mercia’s website.
Mercia Asset Management PLC is quoted on AIM with the epic “MERC” and includes the following wholly owned subsidiaries –
- Mercia Fund Management Limited is authorised and regulated by the FCA under firm reference number 524856
- Mercia Regional Ventures Limited is authorised and regulated by the FCA under firm reference number 183363
- Mercia Business Loans Limited is authorised and regulated by the FCA under firm reference number 443560
- Frontier Development Capital Limited is authorised and regulated by the FCA under firm reference number 829697
About the Midlands Engine Investment Fund (MEIF)
The Midlands Engine Investment Fund, supported by the European Regional Development Fund, will invest in Debt Finance, Small Business Loans, Proof-of-Concept and Equity Finance funds, ranging from £25,000 to £2m, specifically to help small and medium sized businesses secure the funding they need for growth and development.
The Midlands Engine Investment Fund is operated by British Business Financial Services Limited, wholly owned by British Business Bank, the UK’s national economic development bank. Established in November 2014, its mission is to make finance markets for smaller businesses work more effectively, enabling those businesses to prosper, grow and build UK economic activity.
The Midlands Engine Investment Fund is supported by the European Regional Development Fund, the European Investment Bank, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and British Business Finance Limited, a British Business Bank group company.
The MEIF covers the following LEP areas: Black Country, Coventry & Warwickshire, Greater Birmingham & Solihull, Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire, The Marches, and Worcestershire in the West Midlands; and Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham & Nottinghamshire (D2N2) Greater Lincolnshire, Leicester and Leicestershire, and South-East Midlands in the East and South-East Midlands.
The project is receiving up to £78,550,000 of funding from the England European Regional Development Fund as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020. The programme will continue to spend to the end of 2023.
The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities is the Managing Authority for European Regional Development Fund. Established by the European Union, the European Regional Development Fund helps local areas stimulate their economic development by investing in projects which will support innovation, businesses, create jobs and local community regenerations. For more information visit www.gov.uk/european-growth-funding.
The European Investment Bank is providing £122,500,000 to support the Midlands Engine Investment Fund. This follows backing for the Northern Powerhouse in 2017 and backing for the newly launched North East Fund. For further information visit www.eib.org
The funds in which Midlands Engine Investment Fund invests are open to businesses with material operations in or planning to open material operations in the West Midlands and East & South-East Midlands.
The British Business Bank has published the Business Finance Guide (in partnership with the ICAEW, and a further 21 business and finance organisations). The guide, which impartially sets out the range finance options available to businesses and provides links to support available at a regional level, is available at https://thebusinessfinanceguide.co.uk
About the British Business Bank
The British Business Bank is the UK government’s economic development bank. Established in November 2014, its mission is to make finance markets for smaller businesses work more effectively, enabling those businesses to prosper, grow and build UK economic activity. Its remit is to design, deliver and efficiently manage UK-wide smaller business access to finance programmes for the UK government.
The British Business Bank’s core programmes support nearly £8bn[1] of finance to almost 94,800 smaller businesses[2]. Since March 2020, the British Business Bank has also launched four new Coronavirus business loan schemes, delivering almost £73bn of finance to around 1.6m businesses.
As well as increasing both supply and diversity of finance for UK smaller businesses through its programmes, the Bank works to raise awareness of the finance options available to smaller businesses. The British Business Bank Finance Hub provides independent and impartial information to businesses about their finance options, featuring short films, expert guides, checklists and articles from finance providers to help make their application a success.
In light of the coronavirus pandemic and EU Exit, the Finance Hub has expanded and it now targets a wider business audience. It continues to provide information and support for scale-up, high growth and potential high growth businesses, but now provides increased content, information and products for businesses in survival and recovery mindsets. The Finance Hub has been redesigned and repositioned to reflect this, during this period of economic uncertainty.
British Business Bank plc is a public limited company registered in England and Wales, registration number 08616013, registered office at Steel City House, West Street, Sheffield, S1 2GQ. It is a development bank wholly owned by HM Government. British Business Bank plc and its subsidiaries are not banking institutions and do not operate as such. They are not authorised or regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) or the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). A complete legal structure chart for the group can be found at www.british-business-bank.co.uk.
[1] Figures as at end of June 2020
[2] Figures as at 28 January 2021
About CorrosionRADAR
CorrosionRADAR is a leading provider of smart corrosion monitoring and analytics solutions for critical industrial asset integrity issues such as corrosion under insulation (CUI). Enabling Digitalisation and Industry 4.0 with its innovations in sensing and predictive analytics, CorrosionRADAR’s solutions monitor and predict risk remotely, allowing businesses to make data driven decisions in their industrial assets. For new energy infrastructure such as Hydrogen and CCUS, as well as conventional oil & gas, businesses are able to improve safety, and achieve significant savings in their maintenance costs. CorrosionRADAR is based in Cambridge, UK and counts Aramco Ventures, Dow, Kanoo Ventures and Mercia among its shareholders.
For further information visit www.corrosionradar.com.
