UK-based solar cell technology developer Oxford Photovoltaics (PV) received £8m ($11.2m) on Tuesday from its existing investors, including subsidiaries of energy producer Statoil and financial services firm Legal and General.
Legal and General participated through its corporate venturing arm, Legal and General Capital, while Statoil invested through its Statoil Energy Ventures unit.
Spun off from University of Oxford in 2010, Oxford PV is manufacturing conducive films that can be printed onto conventional silicon solar panels to help them generate electricity.
The films are made from a mineral called perovskite, which absorbs more solar energy than materials commonly used today.
Oxford PV will use the capital to prepare the technology for industrial-scale manufacturing, at a production facility in Germany. It has partnered an unnamed solar cell manufacturer to ensure the perovskite can be easily used with silicon solar panels.
The company has now raised a total of $77.3m in debt and equity financing, including $20.9m in a 2016 series C round backed by Legal and General Capital, Statoil Energy Ventures and unspecified additional investors across two tranches.
The European Union-owned European Investment Bank is also a backer, having supplied a $15.6m loan in December 2017.
Ingunn Svegården, investment director of Statoil Energy Ventures, said: “We are pleased with the progress Oxford PV has made since our initial investment and with this financing round we are continuing our support for the company to take the next important steps to bring high-efficiency perovskite products to market.”