Jul 19 2008
As part of a £450,000 funding round, members of Oxford Investment Opportunity Network (OION) have provided £140,000 of new cash to mould tooling technology innovators, Surface Generation. This investment has been matched with an additional £140,000 from Bank of Scotland Corporate’s Growth Capital team under the unique Co-Investment Programme arrangement between the Bank and OION.
High net worth individual investors, who had previously supported Surface Generation, contributed the balance. OION is Europe’s leading business angel technology investment network that matches investors to fast-growing technology companies.
Based in Rutland, Surface Generation has developed an innovative technology that creates easily changeable moulds for carbon fibre composite tooling, which companies can use to make the parts and components for manufacturing processes that previously required individually-created, expensive moulds. More specifically, Surface Generation’s Near-net Shape Pin Tooling technology is used to produce expendable ceramic and polymeric patterns for prototyping, whilst its Subtractive Pin Tooling technology is used to create metallic tools for production components.
Ben Halford, Surface Generation’s CEO, said: “In simple terms, think of our mould-creation process like the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland. Our processes move the columns up and down allowing the creation of the required shape for any mould.”
Surface Generation’s products are particularly aimed at industries working with carbon fibre components, notably aerospace. And, as Ben Halford explained: “Our re-useable mould system is especially cost-effective for short manufacturing runs of high-end components. If you are building an aeroplane, for example, then you may only require a few hundred of certain parts and having to create individual conventional moulds is very expensive and time-consuming.”
When a new design is being prototyped, inevitably there are changes to the precise specification of components as the prototype is perfected. Surface Generation’s technology fits perfectly with this process as moulds can be reconfigured and immediately re-used.
There are further environmental benefits as the moulds take less energy to produce in the first place. Ben Halford commented: “Our whole approach is based on ensuring ‘right first time design’ that reduces tool production costs and lead times by up to 90% and cuts product time to market by up to 40%.”
Commenting on OION, Halford said: “This is the second time that we have secured funding through OION, and it has again been a refreshingly straightforward process. Eileen Modral and her team are very easy to work with. On this occasion, OION’s involvement has facilitated the investment from Bank of Scotland Corporate, and we are delighted to have the Bank on board as a new investor. We are going to use the new funds to continue trials with our growing customer base, and to expand our operations in Europe, North America and Asia.”
This most recent investment round is Surface Generation’s third and earlier investors in the company included NESTA, the UK’s National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts. Surface Generation is aiming for a Series A stock offering later this year, and an IPO in 2010/11.
Eileen Modral, OION Investment Network Manager, said: “We are very pleased that we were able to help Surface Generation secure vital funding for a second time. The company’s technology can clearly generate significant savings in process costs for the manufacturing industry, and we hope the new funding round will help bring continued success.”
The Co-Investment Programme was launched by OION and Bank of Scotland Corporate’s Growth Capital team in early 2008. Through the £2 million Programme, the Bank will match funds from OION investors in innovative technology companies.
Malcolm Kpedeko, Associate Director at Bank of Scotland Growth Capital, said: “Surface Generation is exactly the kind of innovative company that the Co-Investment Programme was set up to assist. We are delighted to be able to help another entrepreneur develop great products, and we will follow the company’s progress with interest.”
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