East Lothian heat battery innovator Sunamp gets multi-million surge from Chile

Sunamp, the East Lothian-based thermal storage company, has raised millions of pounds from a Latin America venture capital outfit as it powers up its technology.

Sunamp produces energy efficient heat storage batteries at its East Lothian facility.

The company’s heat batteries use advanced thermal energy storage materials that can be charged with large amounts of energy from renewable and other sources, and released to deliver hot water, cooling and space heating on demand.

Bosses have attracted £4.5 million in a financing round led by a £3.2m investment by Chilean venture capital firm Aurus Capital, one of the largest in Latin America with a specialisation in “industrial tech and impact” investments.

The Scottish Investment Bank and existing private investors were key participants in the latest funding round which will support commercial scaling in the UK and international expansion in central Europe, Asia and North America.

Sunamp chief executive Andrew Bissell said: “We are delighted to have the support of Aurus as we move forward at pace with our growth plans and capitalise on the interest in our products from around the world.

“Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, we have been receiving new orders and forging new relationships with national and international partners. We also welcome the continued support of our existing investors as we move forward into our next exciting phase of growth and development.

“We are driving down energy consumption associated with heating and cooling of homes, businesses and industrial environments which means we have a very significant role to play in tackling today’s climate emergency.”

The company was advised by Ben Lynch of Cleantech Capital Advisers. MBM Commercial acted on behalf of Aurus Capital and Addleshaw Goddard acted on behalf of Sunamp.

Aurus Capital managing partner Victor Aguilera said: “We are excited to be part of Sunamp and being able to contribute to its global scaling.

“We believe that Sunamp has the opportunity to become a game-changer in the energy sector and contribute significantly to protect our environment by enabling more renewable energy to go into heating and cooling, and at the same time saving money in millions of homes and industries across the world.

“This is another example of our focus on investing in leading companies with advanced materials technologies generating positive impacts.”

Scottish Investment Bank director Kerry Sharp added: “It is fantastic to see Sunamp’s growth and we are pleased to have supported this innovative company as it leads the way in green power technology. This highlights Scotland’s global reputation and talent for renewables.”

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

The dramatic events of 2020 are having a major impact on many of our advertisers - and consequently the revenue we receive. We are now more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription to support our journalism.

Subscribe to scotsman.com and enjoy unlimited access to Scottish news and information online and on our app. Visit https://www.scotsman.com/subscriptions now to sign up.

By supporting us, we are able to support you in providing trusted, fact-checked content for this website.

Joy Yates

Editorial Director