A robotics start-up in Bristol that develops technology it hopes can reduce maintenance costs associated with green energy has secured £1.6m funding to grow the business.
Perceptual Robotics uses autonomous drones to map wind turbines, before passing the images onto a cloud-based artificial intelligence system which processes them to detect damage.
The company’s founders, who met at the University of Bristol, believe their technology is two thirds cheaper than existing methods of detection and can reduce the total cost of wind turbine blade maintenance by up to 30%.
Mechanical engineering graduates Dimitris Nikolaidis, Kevin Driscoll-Lind and Kostas Karachalios say their technology is more reliable, efficient and cost effective than other methods of wind turbine inspection, such as rope-access technicians.
The trio worked for energy, hardware and large-scale software firms before launching their own venture in 2016 before joining the Bristol Robotics Laboratory Incubator, jointly run by the University of Bristol and the University of the West of England (UWE).
In 2019 the growing company opened a Greek subsidiary in Athens, expanding its team and capacity to deliver for customers across Europe.
Following its latest funding round Mr Karachalios, Perceptual Robotics chief executive, said the company’s future was “bright and exciting”.
He said he hoped the backing the business had received would help it to add “exceptional people” to its offices in Greece and at the Future Space laboratory on Filton Road.
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Mr Karachalios said: “We already work with some of the world’s biggest wind power providers and we have been steadily growing our revenues.
“This funding will allow us to increase headcount, continue to mature our ground-breaking technology and drive the scale of our sales and marketing activities on the back of our recent successful programmes with clients across Europe.”
The £1.6m funding round was led by TSP Ventures, a London-based venture capitalist firm with a focus on environmental technologies.
They were joined by Luxembourg-based impact investments firm Humble Holdings, existing investors Metavallon VC and other strategic angel investors.
Chris Smith, chief executive at TSP Ventures, said: “At TSP, we love enabling technologies that can help accelerate the transition to renewable energy and a cleaner future for our planet. We look forward to supporting Kostas and the rest of the team as they scale operations internationally.”
Tom Richardson, Professor of Aerial Robotics at the University of Bristol, supervised the three Perceptual Robotics founders during their time at the institution, and became a board member when the company was launched.
Mr Richardson said: “It is brilliant to see three graduates of Bristol University support the green energy revolution, and it has been a privilege as part of the Board to watch them grow the company.”
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