Viritech provides investment opportunity in the global hydrogen economy on land, sea and air
Pioneering cleantech engineers, Viritech, will deliver their prototype hydrogen hypercar as well as deliver HGV and light aircraft powertrains and two critical enabling patent pending technologies for structural pressure vessels and energy management systems
February 24, 2022
- Crowdcube funding round to underpin the Apricale® hypercar prototype delivery in 2022
- Raise will also support essential hydrogen technologies including Viritech’s Tri-Volt™ energy management system
- And bring its Graph-Pro™ pressure vessel design to manufacturing readiness
- Funds will also support a hydrogen powertrain for HGV application for testing and road trials
- The company will also develop a light aircraft powertrain for mule testing
24 February, 2022. MIRA Technology Park, Warwickshire. Pioneering cleantech engineers, Viritech today confirmed an opportunity for investors to take a share in the automotive, aerospace, marine, and distributed power sectors of the global hydrogen economy through a Crowdcube equity funding round commencing today.
Viritech’s hydrogen-powered hypercar, the Apricale®, has progressed to its second mule stage of development. 2022 will see the first full prototype delivered
The company’s ambition is to be world's leading developer of hydrogen powertrain solutions for the Automotive, Aerospace, Marine, and Distributed Power industries. It is developing advanced technologies including energy management systems and structural pressure vessels to enable clean, abundant hydrogen to be used in tandem with battery electric solutions.
Based at MIRA in Nuneaton, with access to R&D facilities and engineering resources used by many of the world's major automotive manufacturers, Viritech's business model is to design, develop and license these proprietary technologies to global OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers to generate high margin, recurring revenues.
Viritech’s focus on enabling technologies for hydrogen are being brought into sharp focus as supply chain fragility surrounding niche commodities such as lithium are expected to create ‘price fly-ups and bottlenecks’ according to McKinsey & Company, among other commentators. These problems present a significant challenge to ubiquitous use of standalone battery technology for all mobility requirements.
The solution, say Viritech, is to apply battery-electric technologies in appropriate use-cases such as passenger vehicles, but to harness abundant green hydrogen alongside batteries to power other vectors in the transport mix, especially the anticipated early adopters in heavy transportation and aviation.
The Crowdcube raise will provide capital resources to move the Apricale® from its second stage in advanced mule testing to a fully realised prototype this year as an essential stepping stone to low volume production; in addition, this funding round will also accelerate the development of Viritech’s hydrogen powertrain for HGV testing and road trials, alongside a parallel powertrain development for light aircraft.
Viritech’s HGV hydrogen drivetrain will be undertaking testing and road trials following the completion of the Crowdcube funding round
The second element of Viritech’s ambitions under this funding round is to move its Graph-Pro™ structural pressure vessels to manufacturing readiness. The structural nature of the pressure vessels allows the hydrogen storage to form an integral element of a vehicle’s chassis in the same way that a Formula 1 car uses the engine and gearbox as a structure for a race car’s rear suspension.
Alongside Graph-Pro™, the company will also be advancing its Tri-Volt™ energy management system, supplementing the physical management of hydrogen powertrains with the control software for its management. The two technologies will be licensable by OEMs and tier suppliers to help customers accelerate their adoption of hydrogen as a green motive solution.
Timothy Lyons, Viritech’s Founder said, “We have taken great strides over the past 18 months, the first tangible evidence of which will be the Apricale® prototype breaking cover later this year. This is the first demonstration of a portfolio of derivative powertrain solutions suitable for use in multiple industries and our work towards a number of patents and validated applications on the road and in the air. This round of funding offers all our investors the opportunity to join us in the ambition to be the world’s leading developer of hydrogen powertrain solutions at precisely the time that society is recognising that a carbon-free future needs a number of compatible technical pathways alongside batteries.”
Viritech’s light aircraft hydrogen powertrain is a staging post to other aerospace applications including Sky Wolf
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Images
Copyright-free images for editorial use of the Apricale®, Skywolf™ and Jovian™ are available here
About Viritech
Viritech are cleantech engineers with the mission to be the leading developer of hydrogen powertrain solutions for the Automotive, Aerospace, Marine and Distributed Power industries. Viritech’s focus is on areas where hydrogen fuel cells offer immediate benefits — where power, range and duration requirements increase, or long-term energy storage is required.
Viritech delivers rapid, cost-effective design, development, and implementation of advanced powertrain solutions and related technologies, designed to meet the needs of global OEMs and Tier-1s.
The company is passionate about advancing technologies to enable and accelerate a post-carbon future. Viritech is located at the MIRA Technology Park in Warwickshire.
For more information, please visit www.viritech.co.uk
Viritech’s Crowdcube raise together with video outlining the latest engineering developments at the company can be seen here
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