A Sheffield company whose smart sensors allow industry to reduce wear and tear and cut energy costs 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 embeds sensors within the moving parts of machinery to monitor factors such as friction, pressure and temperature. It systems incorporate advanced analytics and provide data in real time to help companies improve process efficiency, extend plant life and reduce maintenance and energy use.  

Tribosonics’ technology is used in the manufacturing, energy and transport industries. The company has attracted a global client base including ENGEL, a world-market leader in injection moulding, and automotive parts manufacturer Novares. 

The investment will help the company to further develop its ‘sensing as a service’ solutions including polymerSENSE, which helps to reduce waste in the polymer and plastics recycling industry. Tribosonics has increased the size of its Sheffield team by 50% since late 2020, bringing the total to 30, and expects to create a number of new jobs in the year ahead. 

The latest funding round brings the total raised to date to £2.6m and follows an initial round by NPIF – Mercia Equity Finance in 2020.  

Will Schaffer, Investment Director at Mercia, said: 

“Tribosonics is a pioneer of Industry 4.0, which will transform manufacturing through the use of connected machines. Its sensor technology offers huge potential to improve efficiency and reduce energy use, which is a key challenge for industry now. The company has maintained steady growth and built a strong blue-chip client base since the last funding round. The latest investment will allow the team to develop more novel solutions.” 

Glenn Fletcher, Tribosonics CEO, said: 

“We’re on an exciting growth journey as we deploy our innovative, game-changing and IP protected sensing solutions to increase value for our customers and to make a significant contribution to decarbonisation across a number of industries. It’s important to have the right investors with us on the journey and Mercia has proved to be a great partner, providing not only growth capital but also invaluable support based on its experience and understanding of what it takes to grow a tech business. We’re looking forward continuing the journey, making a real difference and further enhancing our partnership with Mercia across all fronts.”    

Sean Hutchinson at British Business Bank, said:  

“Seeing companies like Tribosonics make such an impact on their chosen markets is testament to the North’s ability to create and grow innovative companies and clearly demonstrates the impact NPIF equity funds can have on businesses with skilled teams, ambitious growth plan, and world leading technology.  With further funding, Glenn and his team will be able to roll out a number of new changes, placing them and Sheffield as leaders when it comes to developing sensing systems. NPIF aims to help unlock growth across the North of England, and with this investment, Tribosonics is another example of a business accessing finance to achieve its goals.” 

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. 

ENDS 

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Head of Marketing & Communications 

Mercia Asset Management PLC 

+44 (0) 7464 480 137 

[email protected]   

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Turquoise PR 

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About Tribosonics 

Tribosonics is a transformational, hard-tech technology business using its unique sensing technologies to create value and drive sustainability for its global industrial customers, thereby delivering scale and impact. Tribosonics develop, manufacture and supply end-to-end sensing solutions to customers in the manufacturing, energy and transportation. They enable their customers to future-proof business growth by providing SMART, innovative solutions to challenges faced at every point in the value chain.  

23% of the world’s energy consumption originates from tribological contact (tribology is the science of wear, friction, and lubrication). By addressing friction and wear, there is the potential to save 1.4% of GDP, 8.7% of total energy consumption and a reduction in CO2 emissions by up to 3140 MtCO2. Tribosonics is at the cutting edge of addressing these problems and in so doing creating enduring commercial value in a digital world. 

For further information please visit, www.tribosonics.com  

About Mercia Asset Management PLC 

Mercia is a proactive, specialist asset manager focused on supporting regional SMEs to achieve their growth aspirations. Mercia provides capital across its four asset classes of balance sheet, venture, private equity and debt capital: the Group’s ‘Complete Connected Capital’. The Group initially nurtures businesses via its third-party funds under management, then over time Mercia can provide further funding to the most promising companies, by deploying direct investment follow-on capital from its own balance sheet. 

The Group has a strong UK footprint through its regional offices, 19 university partnerships and extensive personal networks, providing it with access to high-quality deal flow. Mercia currently has c.£800million of assets under management and, since its IPO in December 2014, has invested over £96million into its direct investment portfolio. Mercia Asset Management PLC is quoted on AIM with the epic “MERC”. 

The Group raises its own Venture Capital Trusts (VCTs) and Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) Funds and details about open offers can be found through Mercia’s website. 

Mercia Asset Management PLC is quoted on AIM with the epic “MERC” and includes the following wholly owned subsidiaries –  

• Mercia Fund Management Limited is authorised and regulated by the FCA under firm reference number 524856 
• Enterprise Ventures Limited is authorised and regulated by the FCA under firm reference number 183363 
• EV Business Loans Limited is authorised and regulated by the FCA under firm reference number 443560 
  www.mercia.co.uk  
  
   
  About the Midlands Engine Investment Fund (MEIF) 
  
  The Midlands Engine Investment Fund, supported by the European Regional Development Fund, will invest in Debt Finance, Small Business Loans, Proof-of-Concept and Equity Finance funds, ranging from £25,000 to £2m, specifically to help small and medium sized businesses secure the funding they need for growth and development. 
  
  The Midlands Engine Investment Fund is operated by British Business Financial Services Limited, wholly owned by British Business Bank, the UK’s national economic development bank. Established in November 2014, its mission is to make finance markets for smaller businesses work more effectively, enabling those businesses to prosper, grow and build UK economic activity. 
  
  The Midlands Engine Investment Fund is supported by the European Regional Development Fund, the European Investment Bank, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and British Business Finance Limited, a British Business Bank group company. 

The MEIF covers the following LEP areas: Black Country, Coventry & Warwickshire, Greater Birmingham & Solihull, Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire, The Marches, and Worcestershire in the West Midlands; and Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham & Nottinghamshire (D2N2) Greater Lincolnshire, Leicester and Leicestershire, and South-East Midlands in the East and South-East Midlands. 

The project is receiving up to £78,550,000 of funding from the England European Regional Development Fund as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020. The programme will continue to spend to the end of 2023. 

The Department for Levelling Up,  Housing and Communities is the Managing Authority for European Regional Development Fund. Established by the European Union, the European Regional Development Fund helps local areas stimulate their economic development by investing in projects which will support innovation, businesses, create jobs and local community regenerations. For more information visit www.gov.uk/european-growth-funding. 

The European Investment Bank is providing £122,500,000 to support the Midlands Engine Investment Fund. This follows backing for the Northern Powerhouse in 2017 and backing for the newly launched North East Fund. For further information visit www.eib.org

The funds in which Midlands Engine Investment Fund invests are open to businesses with material operations in or planning to open material operations in the West Midlands and East & South-East Midlands. 

The British Business Bank has published the Business Finance Guide (in partnership with the ICAEW, and a further 21 business and finance organisations). The guide, which impartially sets out the range finance options available to businesses and provides links to support available at a regional level, is available at https://thebusinessfinanceguide.co.uk

 

About the British Business Bank

The British Business Bank is the UK government’s economic development bank. Established in November 2014, its mission is to make finance markets for smaller businesses work more effectively, enabling those businesses to prosper, grow and build UK economic activity. Its remit is to design, deliver and efficiently manage UK-wide smaller business access to finance programmes for the UK government. 

The British Business Bank’s core programmes support nearly £8bn^[1] of finance to almost 94,800 smaller businesses^[2]. Since March 2020, the British Business Bank has also launched four new Coronavirus business loan schemes, delivering almost £73bn of finance to around 1.6m businesses. 

As well as increasing both supply and diversity of finance for UK smaller businesses through its programmes, the Bank works to raise awareness of the finance options available to smaller businesses. The British Business Bank Finance Hub provides independent and impartial information to businesses about their finance options, featuring short films, expert guides, checklists and articles from finance providers to help make their application a success. 

In light of the coronavirus pandemic and EU Exit, the Finance Hub has expanded and it now targets a wider business audience. It continues to provide information and support for scale-up, high growth and potential high growth businesses, but now provides increased content, information and products for businesses in survival and recovery mindsets. The Finance Hub has been redesigned and repositioned to reflect this, during this period of economic uncertainty. 

British Business Bank plc is a public limited company registered in England and Wales, registration number 08616013, registered office at Steel City House, West Street, Sheffield, S1 2GQ. It is a development bank wholly owned by HM Government. British Business Bank plc and its subsidiaries are not banking institutions and do not operate as such. They are not authorised or regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) or the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). A complete legal structure chart for the group can be found at www.british-business-bank.co.uk.