Refeyn has received a £1 million equity investment from Foresight Williams Technology EIS fund as part of a £2.55 million round. The investment will be used to scale up the manufacture and distribution of current products in addition to the development of new ones.
Refeyn will join Open Bionics, FreeFlow Technologies and Inovo, just to name a few, on the fund’s investment portfolio.
Refeyn is the spin out company of the University of Oxford’s Chemistry Department. It was founded in order to commercialise a new technology application in molecular mass measurement. Growing to twelve employees, the company is currently developing new scientific instrumentation.
“This investment offers a very exciting opportunity to apply Williams Advanced Engineering’s product design and manufacturing expertise to help Refeyn scale rapidly,” Matthew Burke, head of technology ventures at Williams Advanced Engineering, said in a statement.
The Foresight Williams Technology EIS Fund represents a collaboration between Foresight and Williams. Headquartered in London, Foresight is a leading independent infrastructure and private equity investment manager with over thirty years of experience. Additionally, Williams Advanced Engineering Limited operates a technology and engineering services business that forms part of the Williams Group.
The UK Government’s Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) gives investors the opportunity to qualify for financial assistance to fund small and medium sized enterprises during their early stages.
EIS Funds allow investors to build a portfolio of businesses or startups in their early-stages. They are currently available in two different forms – HMRC ‘Approved’ and HMRC ‘Unapproved’. The most significant different between these two is that with an Approved fund, it is almost impossible to carry back Income Tax relief to the previous tax year.
“We are delighted to have the Foresight Williams Technology EIS Fund on board. Foresight’s backing will be instrumental in enabling us to achieve our ambitious commercial goals, while the expertise of Williams in engineering and design will accelerate the maturation of our technology,” Professor Phillipp Kukura, Founder and Director of Refeyn, commented.
Over a period of two years, the Foresight Williams Technology EIS Fund will invest between £0.25 million and £2 million in at least ten small businesses that meet the specific investment criteria. In addition to Oxford University’s Refeyn, the fund has also invested £1.5 million in Open Bionics, the award-winning designer, manufacturer and supplier of bionic limbs, and a further £1.5 million in Inovo, the early stage collaborative robot development company.