Clean Air Power – Meets Emission Targets For US Genesis-EDGE Product
Clean Air Power Ltd on Wednesday said its US Genesis-EDGE product has met US2010-compliant emission levels required by the US Environmental Protection Agency.
Clean Air Power said the product meeting the emission standards is the final stage of the testing process and is expected to lead to a formal certification by the EPA in coming months.
“Today’s announcement marks a significant step towards the launch of our product in what is a major potential market for Clean Air Power” said Clean Air Chief Executive John Pettitt.
“A number of technical developments still need to be completed before we can launch the product commercially, but on completion of this important milestone, we can look forward with greater confidence to bringing the technology to the US market as rapidly as possible following formal EPA certification.” Pettitt added.
University of Oxford Isis Fund II launched
Parkwalk are delighted to announce the launch of the University of Oxford Isis EIS Fund II.
Launched in conjunction with Isis Innovation, the University’s Technology Transfer and academic consulting subsidiary, the University of Oxford Isis Funds offer alumni and investors the opportunity to invest in companies formed to develop and commercialise technology and intellectual property developed at the University of Oxford in a tax efficient manner.
Please click here to email the funds team to request the University of Oxford Isis Fund II prospectus.
Fuel 3D – wins CES Best of Innovation Award
3D scanner developer recognized as the most impressive product in the 3D Printing & Additive Manufacturing category:
Fuel3D, a developer of 3D scanning solutions, today announced that it has been named a 2015 CES Best of Innovation Awards Honoree in the 3D Printing & Additive Manufacturing category for its flagship 3D scanner product.
Products entered in the CES Innovation Awards are judged by a preeminent panel of independent industrial designers, independent engineers and members of the trade media to honor outstanding design and engineering in cutting edge consumer electronics products across 28 product categories.
Products chosen as CES Best of Innovation Honorees reflect innovative design and engineering in some of the most cutting edge tech products and services coming to market.
“As a first time exhibitor at CES, we are delighted to have had our 3D scanner recognized as the best product in its category,” said Stuart Mead, CEO, Fuel3D. “It’s a great feeling when a prestigious group like the CES panel shares our enthusiasm and vision for making high-resolution 3D scanning faster and more affordable.”
Entries are evaluated on their engineering, aesthetic and design qualities, intended use/function and user value, how the design and innovation of the product directly compares to other products in the marketplace and unique/novel features present.
Fuel3D will be showing its scanner at the 2015 International CES, which runs Jan. 6-9, 2015, in Las Vegas, Nevada.
About the CES Innovation Awards
The prestigious CES Innovation Awards are sponsored by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA)®, the producer of the International CES, the global gathering place for all who thrive on the business of consumer technology, and have been recognizing achievements in product design and engineering since 1976
Oxyntix – rebranding as First Light Fusion
First Light Fusion was spun out from the University of Oxford in July 2011, with seed capital from the IP Group plc, Parkwalk and a number of Angel investors.
Until May 2014, the company was named Oxyntix Ltd.
The company was founded by Professor Yiannis Ventikos, who is currently the Head of the Mechanical Engineering Department at University College, London, and Dr Nicholas Hawker, formerly an Engineering lecturer at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford.
First Light aims to address one of the world’s largest problems – that energy consumption is expected to increase by 50% by 2030.
Fusion has the ability to produce limitless clean energy, with the hydrogen isotope fuel extracted from water.
Fusion is safe, and no long-lived radioactive waste is produced. Unlike other renewable energy sources, fusion does not need the sun to shine or the wind to blow.
Based in Oxford, First Light Fusion employs directly a team of engineers and physicists, and have made strides forward towards inertial confinement fusion.
Visit the First Light Fusion website here.
Clean Air Power – trading update
Clean Air Power (AIM: CAP), the developer and global leader in compression-ignited natural gas engine management systems for heavy-duty engines, today provides a trading update.
In Europe, the Company has recently received a new order for a minimum of ten and up to 20 Genesis-EDGE Dual-Fuel™ retro-fit systems from a large Belgian haulier. The systems are to be delivered between now and the end of Q1 2015.
The restructuring of the European business around the development of the Russian market also continues to progress. As previously announced, the first customer orders have now been received following the delivery of five demonstration vehicles to our Russian partners earlier in 2014.
In Asia, the Company has signed the contract with a global truck manufacturer to commence the first phase of a production development program for a MicroPilot diesel-natural gas engine for the South East Asian and other markets. This follows the previously announced Letter of Intent and will generate revenues of over $3million in the period to April 2015. If successful, the program will move to a second phase targeting the start of production in 2017.
In the US, work is progressing on the US Genesis EDGE Dual-Fuel™ product to resolve the technical issues which have delayed testing by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The test engine had previously met all EPA emission requirements in internal testing at company facilities in Leyland, UK.
Across the Company, cost control measures have been implemented and the Company continues to manage its cash resources tightly.
John Pettitt, Chief Executive of Clean Air Power, said: “The receipt of new orders for our European Genesis EDGE system and continued progress in developing the market in Russia are encouraging. Along with Russia, the US represents a sizeable new market for Clean Air Power and we are working hard to resolve the technical issues with our US product and to bring it to market.
We also continue to build on our long-term strategy of designing, developing and delivering compression-ignited natural gas engines for OEM partners and Tier 1 suppliers. We are very pleased to have signed the contract for the first phase of our production development program in South East Asia. The market remains significant and represents a major opportunity for Clean Air Power.”
Salunda – University of Oxford Isis Fund I Investment
We have recently closed an investment in Salunda for the University of Oxford Isis Fund I.
Salunda develops robust, contactless sensors for use in very harsh environments. The company’s sensor technology detects position and speed, and measures the composition of fluids.
Salunda has developed patented, contactless sensor technology for monitoring machinery in very harsh environments. Sensors scan components such as pistons, rotors and seals for wear and failure. A profile of the component surface can be recorded with sensitivities of as little as tens of microns. Sensors can warn of imminent failure by detecting cracks, eccentric motion, ‘orbiting’, axial shift or vibration.
The oil industry requires accurate, repeatable measurement of the separation of water, oil and gas. Salunda is developing reliable, inline sensors that measure the water content of crude oil, contamination and actual fluid level in the presence of bubbles and froth. OEM components based on patented technologies are available for open-bore water cut and multiphase flow application.
Revolymer – Settlement and Discontinuation of Patent Infringement Proceedings
In respect of the alleged patent infringement action brought by Fertin Pharma A/S and Gumlink A/S against the Company relating to the sale of its nicotine gum products in Canada (the “Action”), Revolymer is pleased to announce that the Action, and the counterclaim forming part of Revolymer’s defence, has been settled and discontinued.
Surrey NanoSystems – NYT: Into the Void
New York Times article: Gazing Into the Void – What You Can Do With Vantablack, the Darkest Material Ever Made
Read the article here.
Nandi Proteins – Parkwalk closes investment
We have recently closed an investment in Nandi Proteins for the Parkwalk UK tech Fund V.
Established in 2001 as a spin-out from Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, Nandi Proteins is a market leader in developing technology and scientific expertise to improve the functional properties of proteins in food manufacturing and nutrition.
Nandi specialises in working with global food producers by using completely natural processes in protein development, and the company’s technology is now being successfully used for a range of applications, helping household names with food production and testing at factory scale.
The company’s know-how reduces costs in food production and improves food taste, texture and longevity, whilst helping to minimise the use of additives.
Fuel 3D – Parkwalk closes investment
We have recently closed an investment in Fuel 3D for the Parkwalk UK tech Fund V and the Parkwalk Opportunities EIS Fund.
Fuel 3D offers an affordable handheld 3D scanning system that delivers extremely high quality 3D shape and color capture for a range of creative applications. The Fuel3D handheld scanner is a point-and-shoot 3D scanning system that captures extremely high resolution mesh and color information of objects. Fuel3D is the world’s first 3D scanner to combine pre-calibrated stereo cameras with photometric imaging to capture and process files in seconds.
Developed at the University of Oxford, Fuel3D has been developed by an expert team of hardware and software engineers and scientists. Originally developed for the medical imaging sector, the technology has been adapted for the broader 3D market, with the goal of bringing the benefits of point-and-shoot 3D imaging to consumers and professionals alike.
Originally developed by Professor Ron Daniel, Lecturer in Engineering Science at Oxford University, Fuel3D is today led by Stuart Mead, CEO, a veteran of several successful global technology ventures.
Xeros: CBS – Almost waterless washing could come to American homes
CBS News: Read the article here.
OxfordPV – Solar Industry Magazine
Future solar cost reductions hinge on raising solar cell efficiencies – read the article here.
Brainomix – wins ACES award for ICT
University of Oxford Isis Fund I and Parkwalk portfolio company Brainomix wins ACES entrepreneurship prize which rewards companies working in health and environment:
BERLIN – 7 October 2014. Spin-outs from Germany, Switzerland and the UK won the ACES awards for academic entrepreneurship in Europe. The three awards – one each for innovative companies in life sciences and ICT, and one Green award for companies with a a low environmental footprint and a clear societal impact – were presented on Tuesday 7 October 2014 at a ceremony at TU Berlin, Germany.
Read the full article here.
Microsaic Systems – Parkwalk closes follow on investment
We are delighted to have participated in a conditional placing for Microsaic Systems:
7 October 2014: Microsaic Systems plc (AIM: MSYS), the high technology company developing next generation mass spectrometry instruments, is pleased to announce a conditional placing (“Placing”) of 10,500,000 new ordinary shares of 0.25p each (“Placing Shares”) at a price of 42 pence per share to raise £4.4 million (before expenses).
Highlights:
· £4.4 million to be raised by way of a conditional Placing to certain existing and new institutional and other investors at a price of 42 pence per Placing Share (representing a discount of approximately 6.7 per cent. to the closing mid-market price of 45 pence on 6 October 2014)
· Aggregate participation in the Placing by Microsaic directors of approximately £125,000
· Net proceeds of the Placing will be deployed to further the growth plans of the Company
· Admission of the Placing Shares expected on 10 October 2014
The net proceeds of the Placing will provide the Company with the additional working capital and capital resources to execute its organic revenue growth plans, which include: (i) generating volume sales of its miniaturised MS (mass spectrometry) system by establishing the Company as an OEM partner (Original Equipment Manufacturer) to market leaders in scientific instruments in a number of parallel application areas and developing its own sales channels to customers in niche, growth application areas; (ii) accelerating the commercialisation of its products and technologies, negotiating complex customer contracts and further outsourcing of manufacturing; and (iii) to provide a strong financial position from which to support commercial negotiations.
The Placing will also enable the Company to continue investing in the development and production of its instruments and technologies. Development plans include variants of the 4000 MiD® for specific applications, enhancements to the ‘Plug & Play’ functionality of the 4000 MiD®, as well as further development and productisation of the Company’s triple quadrupole MS system in collaboration with partners.
The Placing is conditional, as described more fully below.
Colin Jump, Chief Executive of Microsaic, commented:
“Microsaic continues to make good progress in putting in place the key elements of its business that are designed to reinforce its leadership in miniaturised mass spectrometry and drive shareholder value. These include two further OEM agreements with industry leaders over the past year for the global development and commercialisation of scientific instruments that incorporate the Company’s mass spectrometry technologies; outsourcing manufacturing to meet increasing commercial demand; and continuing innovation to make our offering more attractive across the multiple application areas targeted. These new funds will continue to fuel the growth and development of Microsaic’s business and we thank existing and new shareholders for their support of the Company.”
Read the full RNS here.
Parkwalk: 4x Exit for Fund I
We are delighted to announce that the Parkwalk UK Tech Fund I has successfully exited from Xeros.
We invested in October 2010 at 33p per share (26.4p net of initial tax reliefs) and exited in a single block trade in September 2014 giving a 4x cash return for investors in Fund I (in under four years).
The exit has led to investors in the Parkwalk UK Tech Fund I receiving back, in cash, more than their original subscription into the Fund, with three other portfolio companies in the Fund still showing commercial potential.
Parkwalk still maintains a substantial holding in Xeros for various other Parkwalk Funds and Syndicates, and we remain confident that Xeros will continue to deliver exceptional growth over the coming years.
Perpetuum – Parkwalk UK Tech V & Opportunities Fund investment
We have recently closed an investment in Perpetuum for the Parkwalk UK Tech Fund V, Opportunities Fund and a Parkwalk Syndicate.
Perpetuum engineered, produced and commercialized the world’s first practical electromagnetic vibration harvesting micro-generator delivering the power required to transmit large amounts of autonomous wireless sensor data reliably from remotely monitored assets.
Perpetuum’s technology provides self-powered wireless conditioning monitoring solutions for rail applications and perpetual power for wireless industrial automation applications.
Perpetuum’s sensors are simple to install with no batteries and no wires, condition data is sent to the cloud where Perpetuum’s algorithms read the data and provide information management systems to customers online.
The company’s website can be viewed here.
Brainomix – University of Oxford Isis Fund I and Parkwalk investment
We have recently closed an investment in Brainomix for the University of Oxford Isis Fund I and Parkwalk Funds.
Brainomix is aiming to improve stroke treatment dramatically by developing software that gives all hospitals and clinics access to reliable diagnoses for their patients. Strokes are the third highest cause of death and the primary cause of disability worldwide and yet, even in the Europe and the US, up to half of the patients who should be treated for stroke are not, because of difficulty in reading CT scan images accurately.
Brainomix Co-founder Professor Alastair Buchan is the inventor of the ASPECTS system which is the most reliable method to diagnose stroke for treatment that improves patient outcomes. However, in practice the ASPECTS accuracy is often impaired by human subjectivity and its utility is severely limited by a lack of expert clinicians.
Brainomix e-ASPECTS software is the first system to provide automated and standardised analysis of CT brain scans for stroke damage, assessing patients’ suitability for life saving treatment. It has strong potential to become an indispensable tool in stroke care and generate substantial health economic benefits.
The company’s website can be viewed here.
Oxford PV: WSJ – Perovskite – cheaper solar energy?
Perovskite Offers Shot at Cheaper Solar Energy
Rapid Gains in Efficiency Make This Class of Compounds a Potential Game Changer
A class of compounds first uncovered in the Ural Mountains more than a century ago is now a rock star in the world of solar-energy research.
Meet perovskite, the building block for materials that, as a group, have posted unprecedented gains in their solar-energy efficiency—the percentage of sunlight converted into electricity. In the lab, scientists experimenting with perovskite-based materials of different compositions have recently achieved a jump in efficiency to 20%, from around 10% just two years ago.
Read the full article here.
Microsaic Systems – agreement with Gilson Inc
Microsaic Systems Signs Commercial Agreement with Gilson Inc. to Create New Analytical Instruments for the Pharmaceutical and Life Science Industries
29 September 2014: Microsaic Systems plc (AIM: MSYS), the high technology company developing next generation mass spectrometry instruments, is pleased to announce the signing of a commercial agreement with Gilson Inc., a leading international scientific instrumentation company, to create new analytical instruments for the pharmaceutical and life science industries.
Under the terms of the agreement, Microsaic with provide its miniature mass spectrometer – the Microsaic 4000 MiD® – as an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM). Gilson will combine the 4000 MiD® with its high performance liquid chromatography instruments to create a new product for the rapid separation and characterisation of liquid samples in pharmaceutical research and development.
Microsaic anticipates commencing shipments of its 4000 MiD® to Gilson in Q1 2015 with volumes rising to approximately 50 units per year in due course. The selling price per unit is in line with the Board’s expectations. Further details are not disclosed.
Colin Jump, Chief Executive of Microsaic Systems, commented:
“We are delighted to begin this new OEM relationship with Gilson, an industry leader in manufacturing manual and automated liquid sample management products. This agreement represents the achievement of another milestone for the company towards its goal of becoming a leader in the miniaturised instrumentation market. We have high quality global partners for our products addressing an increasing proportion of our target market and continue productive discussions with other potential partners, which we anticipate will progress to agreements in the future.”
Nicolas Paris, Chief Executive of Gilson, Inc. commented:
“The combination of Gilson’s systems flexibility and the Microsaic 4000 MiD® detector brings the power of MS purification to non mass-spec experts in a very innovative, affordable and easy-to-use package. We, at Gilson, are convinced this agreement will help our customers to simplify their sample prep workflows with a better and more routine mass spec solution.”
Oxford Today – Spinning more gold
Alumni investors are flocking to the second Oxford technology spin-out fund, launched this week, Richard Lofthouse reports.
Some of the savviest Oxonians have been eyeing this moment for months — as far back as February when the University launched its first public-facing technology spin-out fund, the University of Oxford Isis Fund I. The £1.6 million fund was promptly over-subscribed despite the fact that not a penny was wasted on advertising.
….read the full story from Oxford Today here.
Posted on December 4, 2014
Fund Managers Comments
Oxford, UoOIF II