MTI leads £2m funding round in Isis spin-out, Oxford Photovoltaics

15th February 2013

Cleantech investment specialists MTI Partners has announced the completion of a £2 million investment round in Oxford Photovoltaics Limited (OPV), a spin-out company commercialising solid-state dye sensitised solar cells for the Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) sector.

These new, transparent solar cells can be produced from inexpensive, abundant, nontoxic and non-corrosive materials and be scaled to any volume. They can be printed directly onto glass in a range of colours, making them ideally suited to use in glazing panels and facades.

OPV was spun-out from the University of Oxford by Oxford University Innovation Ltd, the University’s technology transfer office.

This latest investment round allows OPV to build on its highly experienced technical and commercial teams and construct its own product development and test facilities at the Begbroke Science Park near Oxford.

The financing was led by MTI through its UMIP Premier Fund (UPF) alongside investment from the University of Oxford and a number of private investors.

Kevin Arthur, CEO of OPV said: “Our company is making huge strides in the scale-up and commercialisation of this technology, our new product development facility at Begbroke will incorporate state of the art printing techniques to enable us to manufacture larger modules and begin the technology transfer of our new, high efficiency MSSC technology.

“In addition, our new test and qualification facility will fast track our programme to deliver modules that meet internationally accepted standards and specifications for photovoltaic products.”

David Ward, Managing Partner and Head of Cleantech investing at MTI added: “We are delighted with the technical and commercial progress of the business since MTI supported OPV’s spin-out in 2011. The company is addressing a huge potential market opportunity and the building of the product development facility is an important step on the road to full commercialisation.”

Tom Hockaday, the Managing Director of Oxford University Innovation said: “OPV goes from strength to strength. Their diligence is manifest in their continued growth and success. OPV is a prime example of an Oxford spin-out that understands the importance of industry and innovation.”

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