Low Carbon Accelerator has committed to make a further equity investment of GBP1,000,000 in ResponsiveLoad, trading as RLtec.
The commitment is part of an overall GBP5,790,000 funding round attracting two new investors with smart grid expertise, Naxos Capital Partners and the Carbon Trust Investment.
The funds will be drawn down in two tranches. The first tranche of GBP2,300,000, which completed today, includes an LCA investment of GBP397,003. The second tranche of GBP3,490,000 will be subject to the completion of certain commercial milestones.
LCA has previously invested an aggregate GBP2,353,500 in Rltec representing an 82.6 per cent equity stake. This new funding round revalues LCA’s existing investment at GBP3,626,500, which represents an uplift of 54 per cent and an increase in NAV of GBP1,273,000. Once both tranches of the GBP5,790,000 investment have been drawn down, LCA will hold a significant minority shareholding.
Dr Stephen Mahon, chief investment officer for Low Carbon Investors, the investment manager for LCA, and a board member of RLtec, says: "LCA’s support for RLtec, both financial and managerial, has taken it from early stage to commercial roll-out in just two years. Our hands-on investment management approach, where LCA took a controlling position to more effectively drive the transition to commerciality, has been fully justified. We are very pleased to welcome two new shareholders, both of whom have a strong sector knowledge and will be value-added partners going forward. RLtec now has real market traction and we expect further swift progress as it ramps up its commercial capacity and rolls out its low cost smart grid-management technologies across the UK and beyond."
Andrew Howe, chief executive of RLtec, says: "This new backing underlines just how far we have come over the last year. Our technology is now being rolled out in both domestic and commercial settings in the UK and we expect it will soon be making a significant contribution to cutting the country’s carbon emissions in line with its 2020 targets. It is hugely motivating for everyone here at RLtec to be at the forefront of the new low carbon economy and personally it is pleasing to be in a position to continue creating and offering new fulfilling ‘green jobs’ to talented individuals. In addition to these exciting UK-based developments, we fully expect to enter new geographies next year so that our technology can help other countries meet their carbon reduction agendas."
RLtec has developed smart grid-management technology called Dynamic Demand to increase the energy efficiency of the whole electricity supply chain, from white goods and appliances through to large scale power generators.
Appliances such as fridges and air conditioning systems can be fitted with the technology to automatically modify their power consumption in response to second-by-second changes in the balance between supply and demand on the grid, without affecting performance. The technology has the potential to create a “virtual” power station and if widely used in the UK could significantly reduce the need for carbon emitting coal-fired balancing stations and save up to two million tonnes of carbon dioxide per year.
