A ground-breaking hydrogen car being built in Wales has been given a £1.5 Million investment boost.
The Riversimple Rasa two-seater project has secured funding from the Development Bank of Wales having previously confirmed its support for the Llandrindod Wells car maker.
That follows help from international electronics business Siemens and a £580,000 investment from Angels Invest Wales with a syndicate of Welsh business angels led by lead investor Andrew Diplock. Match funding of £250,000 is coming from the Wales Angel Co-investment Fund and also an oversubscribed crowd-funding programme.
HRH The Prince of Wales visited Riversimple in July and was told that the leading sustainable vehicle manufacturer will use the funding to build vehicles for customer trials that began earlier this year in Abergavenny.
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The funds will also enable the company to draw down grants that have already been awarded by the Office of Zero Emission Vehicles for the trials and by Innovate UK for participation in the Milford Haven Energy Kingdom, a green hydrogen energy system which includes heating, power and personal transportation. Lead investor and entrepreneur Andrew Diplock said, “I’ve been aware of Riversimple for some time, and it feels like the stars are aligning for this forward-thinking company. “Climate change, Brexit and a post-pandemic recovery all point to the need for capital to be deployed in sustainable businesses which can have real impact on our society and environment. “They have a proven technology that can scale globally and so I see Riversimple as a great investment opportunity for this syndicate.” |
Embracing clean hydrogen technology to power road, air and marine transport presents the UK with a significant opportunity to reclaim a global engineering leadership position, deliver an economic premium and securing critical environmental dividend say pioneering cleantech engineers, Viritech . The company develops advanced technologies including integrated hydrogen powertrains, vehicle control systems, structural graphene pressure vessels and high-performance energy storage to enable hydrogen application in automotive, aerospace, marine and distributed power generation. |
Hugo Spowers, founder and Managing Director of Riversimple responded, “We are delighted to welcome Andrew, all the other syndicate angel investors and the Development Bank of Wales to the growing list of Riversimple investors who want to see a shift to a more sustainable and greener economy.
“Wales has been a wonderful place to develop our technology, build our business and refine our service proposition so it is fantastic to have their support as embark on the next stage of our journey.”
