Photo: LontraWarwickshire-based Lontra, a pioneer in advanced engineering technologies, has announced that it has passed a key milestone and raised £8 million to enable it to start commercial production of its first product, a revolutionary new blade compressor, which will be manufactured in the UK and exported to the USA where it has distribution and sales outlets in place.
Alex Chiang ACA, Lontra’s chief financial officer and veteran of a number of private equity backed and quoted businesses, said: “We couldn’t have picked a worse time for fund-raising than in the middle of a global pandemic, yet we have continued to attract high interest due to the strength of the underlying technology and the high potential returns for investors.
“Due to the level of interest we have extended the round to allow further investors to join us. Our machines are used in a range of essential sectors from food production to pharmaceutical manufacture to water treatment, and the range of applications provides protection against a downturn.”
The fund-raising will allow Lontra to bring its first own-brand blade compressor to market, a technology that has recently been demonstrated to save up to 34% electricity against competing machines, a huge figure towards reducing the energy consumption of industry while delivering significant environmental benefits.
Terry Scuoler, former CEO of the Engineering Employers Federation (now Make UK), and an investor and board director at Lontra, said: “Amid the dire warnings of recession and mass unemployment it is critical that innovation and the spirit of enterprise which fund them, are supported.
“Hats off to those, who put their money where their mouth is, in support of British Industry. Together we can re-build a better ‘new normal’ and re-build our innovative industrial base as a foundation for high-value job and value creation.”
“Start-ups, high growth IP and scale-up companies will be key to averting recession and ensuring a return to growth and employment. Lontra, which has developed a revolutionary new blade compressor technology for a wide range of industrial applications, is such a company.
“Such innovation leads to job creation, increased productivity and, in the case of Lontra, to much needed exports and the winning of market share from overseas competitors.”
Phillip Cartwright, Rolls Royce board director at Lontra and previously global head of electrical power and control systems, said: “At Rolls Royce I helped introduce new electric and digital based technologies, products and services in safety critical environments, and if anything Lontra has a bigger and more industry diverse opportunity to build a global digital services business on-top of world-wide exports of its ground-breaking, UK-manufactured machines.
I am very excited to be part of the team developing this opportunity and with the right support hope to use this to regenerate and bring wealth to the UK’s heartlands.”