Company whose software is used by offshore wind farms raises £750k
A cleantech company, which has created software to optimise the design of offshore wind farms, has raised £750,000 in the first investment by the new North East Accelerate Fund.
Kinewell was founded by engineer Andrew Jenkins while studying for a PhD at Newcastle University. The first product, launched in 2015, helps to optimise the design of cable layouts.
The company now also offers software to design turbine layouts and transmission systems. Its latest products take account of the interactions between all three – cabling, turbine and transmission systems.
Its products have been used on projects worldwide and the company, which is based in Wallsend, won the King's Award for Enterprise for International Trade last year.
The investment from the fund, managed by Mercia Ventures, will unlock a further six-figure sum in grant funding, bringing the total raised to more than £1m.
It will enable Kinewell to accelerate technology development and commercialisation, and to almost double in size within the next six months with the creation of ten new jobs.
Kinewell currently employs 12 staff and has a client base that includes global players such as Equinor, SSE Renewables, Parkwind and Eurus Energy.
Andrew Jenkins, founder and chief executive, said: "Offshore wind is an ideal way to decarbonise our energy supply and improve energy security. Our goal is to bring down costs and reduce the time it takes to develop new wind farms, which in turn will make wind energy more attractive and help unlock further investment into the industry.
"Kinewell's solutions have already helped some of the world's largest renewable energy producers significantly reduce lead times and save hundreds of millions of pounds. This funding will help us build on that success."
Chris McCourt of Mercia Ventures added: "Kinewell has achieved remarkable success despite limited investment to date. With offshore wind entering a new growth phase, it is well positioned to capitalise on this. This investment will help unleash its potential and secure its position as the leading software of its type for the industry."
Words: Alice Bird