LONDON, 23 May 2018: Foresight Group (“Foresight”) announces the investment of £2.1 million into Oxford Space Systems Limited (“OSS” or the “Company”) from the Foresight Williams Technology EIS Fund (“the Fund”).
OSS is an award-winning space technology business that is pioneering the development of a new generation of deployable antennae and boom arms for nanosatellites that are lighter, less complex and lower cost than existing solutions.
Designed to address the technical challenges of delivering high and consistent performance, these new systems also meet the needs of packaging, weight, durability, time to market and cost in the extreme operating conditions of space.OSS technology is highly compatible with Williams Advanced Engineering’s capabilities in advanced light-weight materials and structures. Potential areas of support include design, analysis and prototype manufacture of specialist composite components as well as access to lightweight structures specialists.
John Holden, Principal, Foresight Group said: “Oxford Space Systems is a highly innovative and market-leading business with a unique, differentiated product offering. We are delighted to be entering this partnership with OSS and to have the opportunity to be involved in their growth and development over the upcoming years.”
Foresight’s investment will support the development and commercialisation of OSS’s products, alongside the expertise of Foresight’s experienced investment management team.
Matthew Burke, Head of Technology Ventures, Williams Advanced Engineering added: “We are delighted that the Fund has invested in Oxford Space Systems and we look forward to supporting the growth of the company. There is a good fit between OSS technologies and Williams Advanced Engineering’s expertise and it is great to be able to explore additional ways in which we can work together on new discoveries and applications alongside the investment.”
This is the Fund’s sixth investment, following investments into Southampton-based Utonomy, a ground-breaking intelligent gas grid solutions provider; Codeplay, an Edinburgh-based software developer focused on autonomous vehicles; The Salford Valve Company (“Salvalco”), a manufacturer of ecologically sustainable aerosol valves; Geospatial Insight, a Midlands based leading provider of satellite imagery analysis for the insurance, investment and corporate sectors; and Mirico, a Harwell-based manufacturer of a novel Laser Dispersion Spectroscopy based gas analyser.
ENDS
For more information contact:
Ben Thompson, Foresight Group, bthompson@foresightgroup.eu | +44 (0)20 3667 8155
Matthew Knowles, Williams Advanced Engineering,matthew.knowles@williamsf1.com | +44 (0)1235 604 364
NOTES FOR EDITORS
More information on Oxford Space Systems available at https://oxford.space/
About Foresight Williams Technology EIS Fund (“the Fund”):
Foresight and Williams announced the unique collaboration represented by the Foresight Williams Technology EIS Fund in November 2016. It combines the Williams Advanced Engineering team’s expertise with Foresight’s successful investment track record.
The Fund enables investors to qualify for relief under the UK Government’s Enterprise Investment Scheme (“EIS”) for investment into early stage UK SMEs with strong intellectual property in their own specialist fields.
The Fund plans to make investments into at least ten qualifying UK SMEs, supporting the next generation of engineering technology success stories in the UK.
About Foresight Group LLP (“Foresight”):
Foresight is a leading independent infrastructure and private equity investment manager which has been managing investment funds on behalf of institutions and retail clients for more than 30 years.
Foresight has £2.8 billion of Assets Under Management across a number of funds, including Listed Vehicles, Limited Partnerships, Enterprise Investment Schemes (EISs), Venture Capital Trusts (VCTs) and Inheritance Tax Solutions using Business Property Relief (BPR).
Foresight’s Private Equity team, comprising 22 investment professionals, pursues four discrete but complementary investment styles: Venture, Impact, Growth and Replacement Capital through its growing regional office network.
Foresight’s ventures team, comprising experienced investment professionals, invests between £250k and £2m in growth capital and venture capital investments in UK SME’s.
Foresight was voted ‘Best VCT Investment Manager’ at the 2017 Growth Investor Awards, having been previously awarded ‘VCT House of the Year’ at the 2016 Unquote British Private Equity awards.
Foresight is headquartered in London with regional UK offices in Manchester, Nottingham, Milton Keynes, Leicester and Guernsey and international offices in Sydney, Rome, Seoul and San Francisco.
www.foresightgroup.euAbout Williams Advanced Engineering (“Williams”):
Williams Advanced Engineering Limited operates a technology and engineering services business and is part of the Williams Group.
In 2010, Williams Grand Prix Engineering Limited began diversifying its operations, leading to the establishment of the Williams Advanced Engineering division, which has now become Williams Advanced Engineering Limited. Combining cutting edge technology and the industry’s best engineers with precision and speed to market derived from four decades of success in the ultra-competitive environment of Formula One, Williams Advanced Engineering provides world class technical innovation, engineering, testing, manufacturing and operational consultancy services to the automotive, motorsport, aerospace, defence, health and energy sectors. Working in close collaboration with its customers, Williams Advanced Engineering helps meet the sustainability challenges of the 21st century and improve performance, with its expertise in aerodynamics and thermodynamics, electrification, advanced lightweight materials and vehicle integration. The Company was honoured with the Queen’s Award for Enterprise in Innovation 2018.
For more information see www.williamsf1.com/advanced-engineering, follow us on Twitter @WilliamsAdvEng or on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/company/williams-advanced-engineering.
