Oxford, UK, 04 April 2018 – Oxford Flow, the pressure control equipment specialist for water and gas distribution, oil and gas and industrial process applications, has raised £6.1m in a funding round to support the company’s rapid growth, product optimisation and customer base expansion.
The funding – secured from five new investors and two existing partners – was led by London-based fund management firm, Parkwalk, which invested £2.5m.
The remaining £3.6m was raised by six other investment groups. This includes funding from the world of academia – with Oxford University and Oxford Sciences Innovation (OSI), who already held stakes in Oxford Flow, and the Institute of Mechanical Engineering (ImechE) all contributing. RT Capital Management, UK fund services group Thompson Taraz, and individual investor Simon Henry, former chief financial officer at Shell, make up the rest of the investment.
Neil Poxon, Oxford Flow CEO, says: “To have achieved so much interest from such a varied array of investors – both new and existing – reflects the confidence stakeholders have in the innovative new products, progress made so far and our plans to expand into new sectors and regions.”
“This funding will provide a runway for the next two to three years as we grow our business in North America, Central America and the Middle East, driving product development and market readiness for our valves, while we expand our offering.”
Oxford Flow manufactures and designs innovative pressure regulating valves and provides solutions which are more accurate, precise, reduce costs and increase reliability in many global industries.
Poxon adds: “This funding allows us to expand into new sectors in three stages. Initially, we will push further into water and gas distribution – where we already have significant traction – then branch out more widely across upstream, midstream and downstream oil and gas. After that, we plan to expand into the wider industrial process sectors – which include a huge range of applications for our technology – such as chemicals, power generation, food & drink, marine and construction.”
Alastair Kilgour, Chief Investment Officer at Parkwalk says: “We are delighted to add our backing to Oxford Flow as it extends its presence globally. There is almost limitless scope for Oxford Flow’s technology in terms of the sectors it can reach, and we are excited to support them through their next stage of growth.”
ENDS
About Oxford Flow
Oxford Flow designs and manufactures innovative pressure control equipment using technology developed at Oxford University. Engineered to be smaller, lighter and more reliable than competing technology, Oxford Flow’s pressure reducing valves (PRVs) and gas pressure regulators can significantly reduce costs for energy, water and process industries.
About Parkwalk
Parkwalk invests in high growth, knowledge intensive companies seeking to develop and commercialise technology and innovation originating from UK universities, research intensive institutions and technology clusters.
Founded in 2009, Parkwalk is the largest EIS growth fund manager focused on university spin-outs, having raised over £190m to date and backed over 80 companies across its managed funds since inception. In February 2017, Parkwalk was acquired by IP Group plc, a FTSE 250 company with a market capitalisation of £1bn and the UK’s leading developer of intellectual property-based businesses.
The Parkwalk investment vehicles include the evergreen Parkwalk Opportunities Fund, the University of Cambridge Enterprise Funds, the University of Oxford Innovation Funds and the University of Bristol Enterprise Funds.
Media contact
Megain Buchan
Aspectus
Megain.buchan@aspectusgroup.com +44 (0)1224 472 552
