Manchester-based tech start-up enee.io has been awarded a £250k grant from Innovate UK’s Energy Catalyst 8 competition.
Securing the grant forms part of the tech firm’s current round of fundraising and will support the start-up with the development of a solution to boost accessibility to energy in developing countries.
The aim of Innovate UK’s competition is to support innovative energy solutions.
To improve access to power, the start-up reduces the cost of renewable power systems through improved industrial battery life and performance and will utilise the grant to further develop and commercialise its technology over the next three years.
The firm’s system uses IoT technologies, data analytics and cloud-based software to remotely monitor battery health which aims to reduce regular technician visits and operations to ensure renewable power is more accessible.
The latest grant will enable the start-up to employ four additional full-time employees in software development, data analytics and customer support.
It is in addition to a £170k grant the tech firm received from Innovate UK’s Sustainable Innovation fund, in November 2020.
David Smith (pictured, second left), Founder and CEO at enee.io, said: “This is a major boost for enee.io. Receiving two rounds of funding from Innovate UK in less than a year is a real show of confidence in a product we believe will have a significant impact on both the future of industrial battery management in the UK and globally, particularly in developing economies.
“In Africa 450 million people still do not have access to any form of electricity supply. We hope to be able to contribute to bridging that gap by making renewable power more affordable and reliable.”
Dr Nicola Lazenby, Innovation Lead, Energy Catalyst, at Innovate UK, added: “Through Energy Catalyst, Innovate UK provides funding to pioneers who are developing solutions that will help to close the energy access gap for millions of people.”
