A Sheffield company whose smart sensing solutions help industry to improve performance has raised a further £1.5m from NPIF – Mercia Equity Finance, which is managed by Mercia and part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund, and Mercia’s EIS funds.
Tribosonics’ solutions are used to monitor industrial machinery and components and manage process efficiency and product quality. Its integrated systems – which incorporate hardware, software and advanced ‘edge’ analytics – provide data and insights to help companies improve performance, extend plant life, reduce maintenance and energy use and meet sustainability goals.
The investment will support Tribosonics’ ongoing product development and bring its solutions to a wider audience. The company also plans to expand its 42-strong team with the creation of around 25 new jobs in the next 18 months across its technical teams. It will also continue to invest in its award-winning apprenticeship scheme, Tribosonics Future Leaders Programme.
Tribosonics’ solutions are used in industries such as industrial energy, composites, polymers and battery manufacturing. The company has attracted high-profile customers, in the UK and globally.
Tribosonics has tripled its revenue in the past two years and is on course to double it again in the current financial year. The company, which received previous investment rounds from Mercia and NPIF, has raised over £4m to date.
Glenn Fletcher, Tribosonics CEO, said: “Industry is facing a host of challenges such as the need to be energy efficient, sustainable and ESG compliant, reduce costs and enhance quality. Our integrated sensing solutions provide the data required to help companies to meet these challenges and achieve digital transformation. The funding will help us to drive further growth and bring our solutions to a wider global audience.”
Will Schaffer, Investment Director at Mercia, added: “Industry is waking up to the potential of data to improve efficiency. Process mining – the use of data to understand performance and improve processes – has become one of the fastest-growing areas in IT. Tribosonics’ technology is one of the most advanced of its type and the company has a strong management team to drive it forward. This latest investment will help it take advantage of this new and growing market.”
Debbie Sorby at British Business Bank, said: “This investment will allow Tribosonics to grow its workforce , creating new jobs in the area and to continue investing in its Future Leaders apprentice programme which helps to foster a strong pool of talent coming from the North. We are pleased that NPIF is continuing to unlock the North’s growth potential, and we look forward to seeing this continue into NPIF II.”
The Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund project is supported financially by the European Union using funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020 and the European Investment Bank.