Following a £250,000 investment in June 2021 from NPIF – Maven Equity Finance, which is managed by Maven and part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund, filtration and separation technology business, Evove, has expanded into new markets.
Since the investment, the company has opened a further facility at Sci-Tech Daresbury and expanded its team and customer reach, as well as significantly developing its product portfolio.
The latest investment has allowed the business to make in-roads into new industries such as whisky distilleries, breweries, textile manufacturing, mining, green hydrogen, semiconductors, and brine harvesting.
Evove’s core water filtration product has now also been successfully tested on a full-scale industrial laundry operation, enhancing the recycling of the hot water, reducing water usage and energy consumption.
In the last six months, Evove has developed technology to support an emerging and unconventional supply of lithium in the UK. The company’s advanced separation technology has shown positive initial results in the direct extraction of lithium from geothermal water sources.
With lithium being an extremely sought-after commodity as part of the transition towards electric vehicles, by enabling lithium to be harvested and processed locally, rather than imported, the UK has the potential to become an independent source for these vital resources, increasing the nation’s self-sufficiency and competitiveness.
Following the investment, Evove is also using 3D-printing to manufacture its technologies. It recently completed a partnership with Meta Additive, a UK based technology company, part of the global Desktop Metal Group. Evove is planning to develop and prove-out industrial-scale additive manufacturing of “Separonics” – Evove’s precision-engineered membranes. Separonics has the potential to create a globally leading business in transformational filtration and separation technologies from the North West of England.
Alongside its new product offerings, Evove was recently accepted onto the scale-up accelerator programme of Imagine H2O Asia in Singapore and has applied to be a member of the BREW accelerator of The Water Council in Milwaukee, USA. The company is also further expanding in the Middle East, Japan and in Europe.
Evove is backed by an experienced management team and network of advisors and industrial partners to commercialise its pioneering technology.
Chris Wyres, CEO of Evove, said: “We’re now developing and deploying advanced filtration and separation membrane technologies from our base in Daresbury. These are instrumental in decarbonising economies and achieving net zero, as they reduce the cost and environmental impact of fluid processing, water treatment and the harvesting of precious resources. Our investors have helped us to develop new applications, grow into new markets and expand our capabilities into different industries. We’re excited to be growing rapidly and accelerating the roll out of our exciting transformational technology.”
Simon Robb, Portfolio Manager at Maven, said: “The team at Evove have come a long way since investment in 2021. With Evove’s new facility, Chris and his team will be able to support even more sustainable and efficient business operations in the UK and abroad. We’re excited to be a part of Evove’s growth journey and it has been a pleasure helping the company on its pioneering journey of innovation.”
Sean Hutchinson, Senior Manager at British Business Bank, said: “Evove have received three rounds of investment from the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund, which is a testament to the power that access to finance can play. Businesses like Evove demonstrate how, with the right support, investment can enable companies to move from one step to the next in their growth journeys. It is exciting to see Evove expand its facilities and improve its technological offerings.”
The Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund project (NPIF) is supported financially by the European Union using funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020 and the European Investment Bank.