Belgian chemical company Solvay, Japanese corporation Sumitomo and an unnamed Japanese auto company have continued backing UK fuel cell maker Acal Energy as part of a £6.1m ($10m) round.
The round was led by CT Investment Partners, an adviser to UK environmental body Carbon Trust, and new investors joining the compay were clean tech fund I2BF Global Ventures, regional development fund North West Fund for Energy and Environmental, and UK venture firm Parkwalk Advisors. Existing investors who re-committed, beside the corporates, were Carbon Trust Investments, the investment arm of the environmental trust, and Porton Capital, a financial management company.
Acal raised $500,000 from Sumitomo in 2009, and also sealed a £3.3m funding round in 2009, as well as a £1.6m funding round in 2007. It also received £420,000 in seed financing from the Rising Stars Growth Fund before that. This means the fuel cell maker has raised roughly £12m in its history.
Acal develops Fuel Cell and chemicals for various applications requiring more than 1KW of power including vehicles and houses.
Patrick Francoisse, sustainable energy manager at Solvay’s Future Businesses unit, said: "Acal Energy’s platinum-free catholyte system provides a breakthrough in terms of lifetime and cost, and is especially attractive for Solvay to support."