Mocean Energy raises £2.2m new equity to develop wave tech

Wave energy company Mocean Energy has raised £2.2 million ($2.6 million) new equity alongside a £500,000 ($612,000) grant to drive the commercialisation of its wave energy technologies.

The equity funds come from existing investors including Equity Gap, Scottish Enterprise and Old College Capital which is the University of Edinburgh’s venture investment fund, alongside new shareholders Norwegian impact investors Katapult Ocean and MOL PLUS, the corporate venture capital arm of listed Japanese shipping conglomerate MOL.

In addition, Mocean has secured a £499,500 ($611,821) Low Carbon Manufacturing Challenge Fund grant, targeted specifically at the detailed design, build and testing of key subsystems for their small-scale Blue Star wave energy machine.

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The low carbon fund is administered by Scottish Enterprise and is part of Making Scotland’s Future, a partnership between the Scottish Government, public agencies, industry, and academia that aims to secure a strong, sustainable future for the country’s manufacturing businesses.

The new funds will help the Edinburgh and Aberdeen-based company commercialise and secure first orders for Blue Star which will be built in Scotland and is targeted at decarbonising subsea operations in the offshore energy sector.

It will also drive further research and development into their large-scale Blue Horizon technology, which was recently awarded £3.2 million ($3.9 million) by the EU-backed EuropeWave programme.

Mocean plans to refine the Blue Horizon 250kW design ahead of the manufacture and deployment of a grid-connected machine at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) in Orkney as early as 2025.

Mocean energy managing director and co-founder Cameron McNatt notes that there are additional strengths and expertise that the new shareholders bring. He comments, “MOL has a global footprint in marine transport sector and MOL PLUS will help us access MOL Group’s significant resources and expertise to accelerate our commercialisation."

He adds, "Katapult Ocean invests solely in technologies which will have a positive impact on our oceans, and the Mocean team will now be able to participate in Katapult Ocean’s award-winning accelerator programme to help drive our business growth."

He further comments, “The grant funding is also vital and has been match funded through this new equity round. It will help us accelerate the commercial development of our Blue Star technology."

Anthony Bellafiore, investment manager for Katapult Ocean said, “Katapult Ocean is thrilled to be supporting Mocean as it prepares to bring its wave energy technology into the renewables market. Our investment is the culmination of nearly two years of research and diligence in the burgeoning field of wave energy, which took us across the spectrum of platforms and solutions being developed to capture the still largely untapped resource of wave power..."

Jane Martin, managing director of innovation and investment at Scottish Enterprise, commented, “The projects it supports are crucially important. One can completely transform the way power is provided to remote, energy intensive subsea equipment, while the other addresses the need for reliable, low-cost renewable energy at scale. Combined, they have the potential to play an important role in the internationally competitive green energy industry that’s emerging right here in Scotland.”