ACAL Energy Completes Fund Raising Round Over £6M total raised for breakthrough low cost fuel cell technology

Dr SB Cha, CEO of ACAL Energy said: “We are very grateful for the support given to ACAL Energy by our existing and new investors. During arguably the most difficult fund raising climate in recent history for start-up companies, we have exceeded our fund raising target for this round, and in total have raised nearly £10 million since December 2008. With this very strong level of support, our technology has moved rapidly from concept to demonstration and we will be entering into field demonstration later this year. At the same time, with the help of our investors, especially our industrial investors, we are building a strong foundation of relationships with partners and potential customers for the coming commercial phase of the business. We remain very confident that fuel cells using ACAL Energy’s technology will become a significant part of the clean energy generation landscape.”

The total investment amount includes £3.5 million from a first close announced last year. New investors I2BF, North West Fund for Energy and Environmental, and Parkwalk Advisors join existing investors Carbon Trust Investments Limited (CTIL), Solvay SA, Porton Capital, Sumitomo Corporation and a large Japanese auto company. The investment amount also includes £1M from the Carbon Trust’s Polymer Fuel Cell Challenge, which selected ACAL Energy for investment as one of the most important new fuel cell technologies for automotive applications.

Jonathan Bryers, Partner at CT Investment Partners said: “ACAL Energy’s ground-breaking technology represents a real opportunity to unlock the commercial potential of fuel cells. The company’s differentiated proposition and strong IP position places it in the top tier of emerging UK Cleantech businesses and we are delighted to have completed this material investment round with the support of new and existing investors.”
Patrick Francoisse, Solvay SA, 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. We are confident that reliable, high performance and cost effective fuel cell systems will play a major role in the future for stationary and transportation applications.”

Ilya Golubovich, Managing Partner at I2BF: “After extensive due diligence we believe that ACAL Energy’s technology has the potential to play a significant role in securing mass market opportunities for fuel cells, and we are delighted to become part of the team that will help take the company to its next stage.”