Scottish oil tech firm secures seven-figure funding to build team and develop cutting-edge 'lab on a chip'

A Scottish firm developing cutting-edge technology that solves oil analysis problems has secured a seven-figure investment round led by Eos Advisory.

Dr Rotimi Alabi, founder and CEO, RAB-Microfluidics.

Research and development outfit RAB-Microfluidics, spun out of the University of Aberdeen, said the investment would help it strengthen its team and further develop its product roadmap as the company enters its next phase of growth.

The £1.24 million investment round has been led by Eos Advisory and also includes London-based Newable Ventures, Scottish Enterprise and existing investors.

The company is building on more than ten years of research and was selected for the TechX Pioneers accelerator programme run by the Oil & Gas Technology Centre (OGTC) in Aberdeen in 2018.

It has developed what it calls “laboratory on a chip” technology so that oil samples from heavy machinery such as pumps and generators can be analysed on site instead of being shipped to onshore laboratories. Through analysing samples on site, operators are able to assess how machinery is performing and when maintenance is required.

The firm has a UK and global customer base from the maritime, renewable wind, other power generation, aerospace and defence, processing and manufacturing, oil and gas, and transport industries.

Founder and chief executive Rotimi Alabi said: “RAB-Microfluidics has identified that businesses who own and operate lubricated heavy machinery have a significant challenge around how the conditions which ensure the reliability of such machines are monitored.

“We are revolutionising oil testing and analysis services by making conventional laboratory procedures mobile, rapid and routine. We do this by delivering oil analysis more than one thousand times faster and around ten times cheaper than the current approach that is based on sending oil samples to laboratories.”

Eos Advisory’s managing partner Andrew McNeill said: “RAB-Microfluidics is one of the most exciting early stage Scottish technology companies in the energy sector and we’re pleased to have brought together such a strong set of investors to support Rotimi and his team through their next phase of growth.”

Jan Robertson, interim director at Scottish Enterprise, added: “RAB-Microfluidics is a significant early stage technology company with high growth potential that has much to offer a wide range of industries globally.

“We’ve been working closely with the company in recent years to help it fully commercialise its cutting-edge microfluidic technology. We are pleased to be able to continue our support by participating in this latest funding round and look forward to seeing the company go from strength to strength.”

MHA Henderson Loggie corporate finance director Ian McDonald, who supported RAB-Microfluidics on the deal, said: “The technology Rotimi has developed in RAB-Microfluidics provides users with a distinct edge in terms of time and costs in ongoing asset maintenance and goes quite some way in making a number of critical processes much more efficient.

“We have worked with Rotimi and RAB for some time now and are thoroughly delighted to help secure this investment from a powerful and fully engaged investor group. Everyone at MHA Henderson Loggie would like to wish Rotimi and his team all the very best in the next chapter and look forward to working with them closely in the years to come.”

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