gunnercooke supports UK startup StirLight to secure £1.25 million investment

gunnercooke Venture Capital Partner, Tom Goff, recently supported StirLight secure £1.25 million to commercialise its technology and accelerate the adoption of advanced manufacturing processes at scale by major industrial original equipment manufacturers.

The funding comprises over £750,000 in pre-seed investment from Haatch Ventures, The British Business Bank, D2N2 and angel investors, alongside approximately £500,000 in grant funding from Innovate UK and The Aerospace Technology Institute (‘ATI’) across two R&D projects.

Proceeds will support pilot deployments of StirSense with industrial partners, the creation of highly skilled engineering and data science roles, and the continued development of StirLight’s core technology platform.

The Company is actively seeking partnerships with manufacturers in aerospace, automotive, defence and energy who want to integrate real-time quality assurance into their friction stir welding (‘FSW’) operations.

Tom Goff said  said:”We are pleased to have supported StirLight in raising pre-seed funding to kickstart technological commercialisation and accelerate major industrial original equipment manufacturers’ adoption of these advanced engineering processes at scale

“It’s an important time for the UK to build industrial manufacturing capability in critical industries, including in aerospace, defence and energy; all of which StirLight serves.

“The early support provided by these active investors ought to be seen as a valuable indication of confidence in all that the team has accomplished to date in advanced manufacturing and friction stir welding.

“This is the sort of team our venture capital experts thrive on working with and we look forward to seeing what comes next.”

Toby Savage-Yu, Chief Executive Officer of StirLight, said: “FSW produces some of the best joints in the world. The problem has always been proving it at scale, and that is what StirSense solves. “We are delighted by the support from Innovate UK, ATI, and our pre-seed investors who moved quickly to back this critical technology. “We have been building this company over the last two years and the team’s work to get us here has been exceptional. We are looking forward to putting this funding to work and showing what UK manufacturing innovation can deliver.”

The Company is based at its facility in North Derbyshire. Pre-seed advisors to StirLight included gunnercooke, Innovate Growth UK and Venture Community.

Find out more about Tom Goff’swork here.