A remote technology company which has trebled in size in the past two years has raised a further £480,000 to help it expand into new markets.

Plexus Innovation, which is based in Durham, has secured £300,000 investment from the North East Venture Fund (NEVF), supported by the European Regional Development Fund and managed by Mercia; and £180,000 from the Finance Durham Fund, managed by Maven Capital Partners, established by Durham County Council and overseen by Business Durham.

Plexus Innovation’s GUARDIAN^® technology remotely monitors and measures temperature, CO₂, humidity and water systems, enabling insight-driven decisions, reduction of energy use and provision of real-time data for use in compliance reporting. The system also provides automated alerts to highlight potential health risks or failing assets that otherwise may be overlooked.

GUARDIAN^® is being used by clients in sectors such as social housing, education, health and care, with clients including believe housing, North Star Housing Group and Careline Lifestyles.  The funding will enable co-founders Ian Murray and Steve Todd to accelerate product development and boost market penetration in other sectors including manufacturing, leisure and hospitality.

The latest investment follows a £400,000 funding round in 2020. Since then the company has tripled to employ an eight-strong team and is planning to create 2 new jobs in the coming months.

Alex Simpson, investment manager at Mercia, said: “Plexus Innovation is on a mission to replace manual measurements and make remote monitoring the norm. The initial funding round enabled Steve and Ian to build their team and establish their presence within the social housing and care sectors. The latest investment will enable them to roll it out to a much wider range of clients.”

Michael Dickens, Investment Manager at Maven, said: “Plexus Innovation has developed an innovative proprietary product that addresses legislative issues, pushing compliance and asset management into the 21^st Century. The remote technology is attracting high profile clients focused on Net Zero, business improvement and delivering better service to tenants, residents, patients, pupils or their own customers.  This means the market opportunity is significant.”

Ian Murray, founder of Plexus Innovation, said: “We are successfully rolling out our innovative GUARDIAN^® technology across a range of sectors and our current clients have uninterrupted compliance management delivered remotely. Providing a digital alternative to manual checks, GUARDIAN® is proven to be cost effective, reliable and accurate. It provides real-time data with a full audit trail, reduces risk and detects a range of key issues not possible via manual measurement.

“This investment means we can now roll out GUARDIAN^® even further, helping more finance, environment, compliance, healthcare, facilities managers and maintenance teams to do their job better. We will also enable an instant and significant improvement for those on the road to Net Zero.”

Cllr James Rowlandson, cabinet member for resources, investment and assets at Durham County Council, said: “We are delighted to be supporting this innovative company as they continue to grow in Tanfield Lea Business Centre.  Through the support from Finance Durham, we can ensure enterprising businesses with dynamic ideas, like Plexus Innovation, have the right means to grow in County Durham.  Since we declared a climate emergency, we have been actively seeking practical support for our business community to enable them to reduce their carbon footprint, its fantastic to hear that Plexus are able to help companies meet their low carbon ambitions.”

ENDS

Press contacts

Antonia at Plexus Innovation

07702 214391

[email protected]

Alison Dwyer

Head of Marketing & Communications

Mercia Asset Management PLC

+44 (0) 7464 480 137

[email protected] 

Pauline Rawsterne
PR Agent
Turquoise PR

+44 (0) 161 860 6063
+44 (0) 780 163 9816

[email protected]

About Plexus Innovation

Ian Murray and Steve Todd founded Plexus Innovation to resolve the challenges posed by manual environmental data monitoring. They drew on their legacy of bringing exciting new solutions to market, as well as a shared background in technology, innovation and product development to develop GUARDIAN.

GUARDIAN is a remote, automated measurement and alert system that focuses on environmental data including temperature to reduce in the risk of legionella and ensure water or temperature is at an optimum level to protect health. Plexus Innovation’s technology comprises of a combination of hardware, with remote monitoring software.

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 North East Fund

The North East Fund is a suite five venture capital and loan funds which was established in April 2018, to invest £120m in around 600 North East businesses in the period to March 2023.  The fund managers provide business development advice and investment finance to small and medium sized enterprises based in the seven Local Authority areas of North East England: Northumberland, North Tyneside, Newcastle, South Tyneside, Gateshead Sunderland and County Durham. The programme encourages investment in and the commercialisation of new technologies, including low carbon technologies, as well as stimulating new business creation, private investment and entrepreneurialism in the North East, with a view to creating over 2,500 new jobs.  The North East Fund has overall responsibility for the programme, which is delivered through five separate funds, each managed by independent, FCA regulated fund managers.  Details of these, and up to date information on the progress of the programme, is available on The North East Fund’s website: www.northeastfund.org

The North East Fund has been established with funding from the North East of England European Regional Development Fund programme, the European Investment Bank and from returns on previous North East based, publicly supported investment funds.  It is jointly owned by the seven North East local authorities

About the European Regional Development Fund

The North East Fund will receive up to £58,500,000 of funding from the England European Regional Development Fund as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020.  The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government 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 https://www.gov.uk/european-growth-funding.

About the European Investment Bank

The European Investment Bank (EIB) will lend up to £60,000,000 to the North East Fund programme.  The European Investment Bank is the long-term lending institution of the European Union owned by its Member States. It makes long-term finance available for sound investment in order to contribute towards EU policy goals.  For more information, visit: http://www.eib.org/about/index.htm