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Ocula Technologies Tops Up AI Research with £11M in Funding

By |November 14th, 2023|

Belfast-based Ocula Technologies LTD has announced a new investment of £11 million in research and development of AI technologies.  The company has made a few announcements recently showcasing their growth and plans for the future, including plans to increase their workforce from 10 to 50 within its Software Development Centre by 2026. In addition, their [...]

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Enzai Secures $4M for AI Governance Technology

By |November 14th, 2023|

Enzai Technologies Ltd, a Belfast-based startup, has secured $4 million in a seed funding round led by Berlin-based Cavalry Ventures. Enzai will use the funding to double-down on their market leading AI governance solution, which helps organisations understand and manage the risks that come with AI while meeting their regulatory obligations. Enzai was founded to [...]

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Mocean Energy Directs New Funds to Commercialization of Wave Energy Technology

Mocean Energy, a Scottish wave company, has secured €2.5 million in new equity. This funding, along with €572,000 in grant funding, will be directed towards driving the commercialization of its wave energy technologies. The new funds will help the Edinburgh and Aberdeen-based company commercialize and secure first orders for their wave energy technology, Blue Star, which will be built in Scotland and is targeted at decarbonizing subsea operations in the offshore energy sector. The equity funds come from existing investors including Equity Gap, Scottish Enterprise and Old College Capital, the University of Edinburgh’s venture investment fund, alongside new shareholders Norwegian impact investors Katapult Ocean and MOL Plus, the corporate venture capital arm of listed Japanese shipping conglomerate MOL. Mocean Energy is developing two different wave technologies. Their Blue Star is a device capable of powering a range of subsea equipment, inspection, and maintenance systems. The second, called Blue Horizon, is a larger machine designed to generate grid-scale electricity. Despite their differences in scale, both systems are based on the same concept. Their technology uses a hinged raft with a unique geometry that improves performance by up to 300 percent compared to traditional hinged rafts and increases survivability by diving through the largest waves. In 2021, the company was able to test a prototype model, Blue X, for testing in real sea conditions. Installed at European Marine Energy Centre’s (EMEC) Scapa Flow test site, the Blue X is generating power and data on machine performance and operation seen over the summer months. In addition, Mocean Energy has secured a Low Carbon Manufacturing Challenge Fund grant, targeted specifically at the detailed design, build and testing of key subsystems for their small-scale Blue Star wave energy machine. The low carbon fund is administered by Scottish Enterprise and is part of Making Scotland’s Future, a partnership between the Scottish Government, public agencies, industry, and academia that aims to secure a strong, sustainable future for the country’s manufacturing businesses. Who We Are: Swanson Reed is one of the UK’s leading R&D Tax Relief consultancies. We manage all facets of the SR&ED tax credit program, from claim preparation and audit compliance to claim disputes. If you would like to find out more about how your business could benefit from R&D Tax Credit, contact a Swanson Reed R&D Tax Advisor today.

Locit Achieves Carbon Neutrality in a UK First

Locit Limited has made history in their Deeside-based manufacturing site. The company is the first in the UK - possible in the world - to achieve complete carbon neutrality in their steel locker manufacturing. “We have achieved a UK first- and potentially a world first – for our sector using digital manufacturing techniques which put decarbonisation at the heart of our product, processes and culture.” said Richard Williams, CEO of Locit. The company has been granted PAS 2060 certification, which is deploying a holistic approach to reduce the environmental impact covering energy, supply chain, design, manufacture and packaging. PAS 2060 is the internationally recognised specification for carbon neutrality published by the British Standards Institution (BSI). It demonstrates carbon neutrality claims are both credible and verified to increase accountability and consumer confidence. It is a significant accomplishment for the SME manufacturer, which has booked almost £5m of sales in its first year’s trading to the end of September and has created 40 new jobs. The company is maintaining their focus, pushing towards net zero manufacturing. With these efforts, they are on track to reduce emissions at the factory by a further 50% this year. The company has implemented solutions from top to bottom, from supply chain to design, and from manufacturing to delivery. Locit uses recycled steel sourced from UK-based suppliers only. This reduces carbon impacts often associated with importing materials. They then use state-of-the-art 3D CAD/CAM software solutions that enable the design of products with minimum waste materials. Advanced manufacturing techniques are used to reduce energy consumption. This includes sector-leading advanced sheet metal machinery for fully-automated production runs, bespoke short-volume orders and R&D, and innovative powder coating techniques that recycle waste and reuse heat between processes. Data-led manufacturing means that production is integrated with cloud-based Material Requirements Planning (MRP) software to optimise stock and delivery management. Finished products are delivered to customers and suppliers using recycled packaging. Who We Are: Swanson Reed is one of the UK’s leading R&D Tax Relief consultancies. We manage all facets of the SR&ED tax credit program, from claim preparation and audit compliance to claim disputes. If you would like to find out more about how your business could benefit from R&D Tax Credit, contact a Swanson Reed R&D Tax Advisor today.