MMC Ventures, a venture capital firm which focuses on UK growth companies, has made its first cleantech investment of GBP1.1m in E-Stack.
E-Stack designs and manufactures ultra low-energy ventilation systems. The company’s patent-pending, controlled natural ventilation system reduces overall energy consumption of buildings by 50 per cent compared with buildings using conventional ventilation systems. Almost half of all CO2 emissions globally are produced by the built environment; in the EU heating and cooling accounts for 40 per cent of these emissions.
E-Stack was spun out of the University of Cambridge in 2006 following a BP-funded research programme at the University’s BP Institute. Dr Shaun Fitzgerald, chief executive, and Professor Andy Woods, chief technology officer and head of the BP Institute, led and commercialised the research with support from BP’s Ventures team.
David Eyton, BP’s head of research and technology, says: ‘E-Stack is an excellent example of how to take great research and turn it into a successful commercial venture, in a short space of time.’
Ben Richardson, director at MMC who led the investment, adds: ‘MMC has been following E-Stack for 18 months and in that time they have consistently impressed us with their progress. As well as a clever technology we are backing a team with an unusually good mix of academic and commercial credentials.’
