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Green Angel Syndicate’s fifth pitch event took place in the impressive offices of Baker Botts in the heart of the City of London on 26 April, with a packed room of investors and four innovative companies targeting four very different areas of the green economy:
If you are interested in knowing more about any of these investment opportunities, or watching the video recording of the event, or indeed hearing more about our other live deals, Powervault, Alusid and Plantworks, please contact Nick Lyth or Simon Acland. OXTO – Flywheel energy storage Ambition To become a key enabler of a sustainable, low-carbon energy system, thanks to its innovative flywheel energy storage device, that will deliver scalable storage at a competitive cost (a flywheel is a ‘mechanical battery’ that stores kinetic energy in the form of a rotating mass). The flywheel allows intermittent renewable sources such as wind and solar to continue generating, even when the energy is not required. For example, last year, 1.5TWh of wind energy was wasted in the UK as it could not be absorbed immediately in the power grid. OXTO’s proposition is to store the excess energy in its flywheels and to release it when demand increases. Market The energy storage market is growing rapidly and is forecast to be worth over $44bn by 2024. In the UK, a 2017 report by National Grid forecasts storage capacity of 11GW by 2050. OXTO targets electric grid operators and utilities, renewable energy generators and EV charging infrastructure operators. The UK will be a focus but OXTO also has projects in Australia and Europe.  Source: Oxto Business model OXTO develops a storage as a service model, whereby it builds and installs the flywheels and the client gets electricity storage at a guaranteed price per kWh. OXTO would also consider selling its flywheels if it made economic sense. What it’s achieved so far OXTO’s specific redesign of the flywheel brings several key advantages over chemical batteries and existing flywheels: a long durability (100,000 cycles; 25 years lifetime), a high efficiency (operating in a vacuum to minimise losses), ultra-fast response times (milliseconds) and a low cost. The flywheel offers 60kW of power with storage capacity of 7.5kWh, specifically designed for the ‘demand response’ market. OXTO has one patent granted and three pending. Its pipeline includes a 1MW project in Austria, a 5MW one in Australia and 1.2MW one in Sheffield, UK. Team George Prassinos (PhD, Founder and CEO) has been active in energy storage since 2014 and brings extensive R&D experience, including designing, developing, manufacturing and successfully launching a flywheel energy storage system on a satellite. Other team members include Gerald Watt (BEng), leading mechanical development, and Lewis Gardiner (BSc), leading business development. Fundraise Seeking £600k at a pre-money valuation of £12.5m, EIS approved. There will be a need for further funding to finance manufacturing and business development. GreenSpur Renewables– Innovative magnet generator for wind turbines Ambition GreenSpur’s aim is to end the dependence of wind turbine generators on scarce and expensive rare earth magnets, enabling cost savings and eliminating the supply risk. It has invented a new low cost direct drive permanent magnet generator capable of delivering a generator capex reduction of 33% by substituting rare earth magnets with ferrite. Market The wind energy market is huge and growing fast. By 2030, global onshore capacity is expected to more than double to 1,250GW and offshore capacity to grow more than fivefold to 100GW. This represents potential generator sales of £35bn over the period. Each upcoming 10MW offshore wind turbine will require as much magnetic material as 3,000 electric cars – hence the potential for a disruptive magnet technology to make big inroads.  Source GreenSpur Business model GreenSpur’s core skill set is the research, design, development and testing of its ferrite concept. The company’s objective is to licence its IP to manufacturing and assembly partners. What it’s achieved so far GreenSpur has invented and developed a new low-cost, new design permanent magnet generator that substitutes ferrite (£1 per kg) for rare earths magnets (£40 per kg). Its electromagnetic test results have been endorsed by Warwick Manufacturing Group and its generator design validated by DNV GL. GreenSpur has seven patents filed in relation to its design. A 75kW demonstration unit was completed in June 2017 and extensively tested at the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult. Since then, GreenSpur started a £1.6m Innovate UK grant supported project to scale its technology to 250kW – a step towards its target of reaching 1-10MW. Team Andrew Hine (FCCA MBA, Director and co-founder) has been involved in two successful start-ups that developed software products for the banking and legal sectors – bothwere exited via trade sale.Hugh-Peter Kelly (BSc MIET, Director and co-founder) is a professional engineer and the inventor of the GreenSpur generator. He has extensive experience in product innovation, R&D, IPR and manufacturing.Alex Freeman (MBA, Project Manager) is a former Army Officer with extensive project management experience in the manufacturing and renewable energy sectors. Exit Wind turbine manufacturers such as Siemens, Vestas and GE are all potential acquirers of GreenSpur over the next few years. Fundraise GreenSpur’s strategy is to secure funding in different steps. It is currently seeking £750k to complete the 250kW project with completion in February 2019. In 2019, it will require a further £2m to build three additional stages to increase the generator rating to 1MW. Thereafter, GreenSpur will need £10m to build a 3MW unit suitable for market deployment and to establish initial revenue streams (expected in 2021). Global Surface Intelligence – Earth observation analytics as a service Ambition GSI aims at providing the deepest insights and best accuracy earth observation analytics into forestry, agriculture and changing land uses, applying proprietary AI and machine learning to satellite imagery and raw data from other sources such as drones. Market GSI’s first market is forestry, where its technology enables surveys at much greater frequency than historical methods (weekly vs. annually) at a much lower cost. A typical survey would cover 400k hectares (globally forests cover 4bn ha) for a revenue of $160k. More broadly, over the coming 5-10 years, the earth observation market is due to grow to $8.5bn (2026), remote sensing to $19bn (2025) and drone services to $18bn (2022), with potential applications in agriculture, capital infrastructure, natural resources and water.  Source: GSI Business model GSI is initially selling projects, but its target is to grow recurring subscription revenues so that they surpass project-based revenues by 2020. It targets gross margins of 80%+. What it’s achieved so far GSI’s solution has got positive feedback from global companies in different sectors, from renewable energy to insurance. In September 2017, the Saskatchewan Government Forest Service was “impressed with how GSI was able to predict forest inventory across a wide range of forestry situations and ground disturbance”. Recently, GSI was named as one of the ‘Ones2Watch’ at the DataSpace 2018 conference. Team Gavin Tweedie, CEO, is a start-up specialist with over 20 years’ experience in senior sales and business development roles. He has founded and built profitable EMEA businesses for five American tech companies in varied sectors. Fundraise Seeking £500k, EIS qualifying, with a lead investor in place. Ultra MTS – Autonomous electric transportation system Ambition Ultra MTS’s goal to improve how people live in cities globally by providing a ‘Personal Rapid Transit’ solution: a multi-origin and multi-destination public transport system that is safe and clean (electric), with on-demand autonomous ‘pods’ travelling on dedicated guideways. Market How does Ultra MTS compare with other systems that its target clients, mayors and developers, can choose from? Its solution is more expensive than buses, but more efficient, greener and it increases the value of hard-to-access land it serves. Compared to light rail systems such as trams, it requires lower capex and it enables more flexible routes. Finally, compared to future fleets of autonomous shuttles, the system has the advantage of being ready now, and better solves the key issue of congestion. Ultra MTS is well placed for a large contract for the new airport being planned for Chengdu, China, to build a transportation system that should be operational by 2020, and on which the company expects a contract to be awarded in July or August 2018. Ultra MTS also has further leads in China as well as others in the USA and the UK.  Source: Ultra Global PRT Business model
The management sees Ultra MTS as a ‘green technology’ company rather than a ‘transport’ company. Its revenues are projected mainly from consultancy fees (feasibility studies and system integration), payment for access to the technology, annual royalties and potentially sponsorship, advertising and ticketing. What it’s achieved so far Since the Green Angel Syndicate pitch event in November, Ultra MTS has appointed a new CEO (see below) and has made progress in China (appointed a project manager and signed several agreements to develop the PRT and produce the pods in China). The system has been working commercially at Heathrow since 2011, with very positive customer feedback and a 100% safety track record. Ultra MTS is now planning to expand globally, targeting cities from the US to China, focusing on new development sites, congested areas, campuses and airports. Team A new CEO, Peter Budd, has recently been appointed, bringing 25 years’ experience in China. The Chairman, Nigel Clarke, has been with the project for 15 years and has decades of experience in business areas with strong public policy influence. Fundraise Currently seeking £1m at a pre-money valuation of £4m. Ultra-MTS expects to require a series B investment notably to enable it to buy full control of Ultra Global, a subsidiary where its IP is lodged, currently partly owned by Heathrow. If you are interested in knowing more about any of these investment opportunities, or watching the video recording of the event, or indeed hearing more about our other live deals, Powervault, Alusid and Plantworks, please contact Nick Lyth or Simon Acland.
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IMPORTANT INFORMATION
The content of this webpage should not be construed as financial advice. Any decision to invest should be made only on the basis of the relevant documentation for each investment. Past performance is not necessarily a guide to future performance. The value of an investment may go down as well as up and investors may not get back the full amount invested. Investments in small unquoted companies carry an above-average level of risk. These investments are highly illiquid and as such, there may not be a readily available market to sell such an investment. Green Angel Syndicate does not provide specific individual advice on the suitability of investments with regard to a potential investor's individual circumstances, risk tolerance or investment objectives and investors should seek independent financial advice if they are in any doubt whether a product is suitable for them. Please Click Here to see the full Risk Warning.
© Green Angel Syndicate, 29 Shand Street, London, SE1 2ES 2017.
The content of this webpage should not be construed as financial advice. Any decision to invest should be made only on the basis of the relevant documentation for each investment. Past performance is not necessarily a guide to future performance. The value of an investment may go down as well as up and investors may not get back the full amount invested. Investments in small unquoted companies carry an above-average level of risk. These investments are highly illiquid and as such, there may not be a readily available market to sell such an investment. Green Angel Syndicate does not provide specific individual advice on the suitability of investments with regard to a potential investor's individual circumstances, risk tolerance or investment objectives and investors should seek independent financial advice if they are in any doubt whether a product is suitable for them. Please Click Here to see the full Risk Warning.
© Green Angel Syndicate, 29 Shand Street, London, SE1 2ES 2017.