Nano business Concretene raises £3m in fresh venture round
A Manchester-based nanomaterial technology that wants to decarbonise the concrete industry – has secured £3m in venture capital investment to bring its carbon-saving concrete admixture to market.
The raise comprises two investors: tech-specialist VC fund Molten Ventures leads the Seed+ investment round, while LocalGlobe – Europe’s leading funder of tech unicorns, whose seed investment enabled the building of Concretene’s core team in 2023 – has further committed itself to the project.
The investment will fund the development of the Concretene product – a graphene- enhanced admixture that reduces the carbon footprint of concrete – to take the business through product certification and onto upscale revenue.
Alongside its new investors, Concretene is working with leading UK pre-cast manufacturer Roger Bullivant and global cement giant Cemex on specific formulations for low-carbon CEM II/III cements. This work is supported by £1.2m in grant-funding from Innovate UK, secured in 2023.
Concretene’s scientists are also working with concrete specialists from Arup, the world-renowned engineering consultancy, on an extensive material testing programme. This will generate a comprehensive dataset to support material performance and the accreditation of Concretene as a concrete admixture.
Concretene was founded by civil engineers Rob Hibberd and Alex McDermott, who worked with The University of Manchester’s Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre (GEIC) to develop the prototype formulation.
This prototype delivered compressive strength uplifts of 25-30% in the lab and an average of 17% in three field trials. Dependent on application, this performance enables reduction of CO 2 emissions from concrete by around 10-15%.
Rob and Alex then hired an experienced team – including former GEIC scientist and Concretene co-inventor Dr Craig Dawson – to develop the product for commercial roll-out. Reliable and scalable supply chain partners are critical for commercial viability and the business has refocused the product on feedstocks with sustainable credentials.
Concretene was the first tenant of Manchester’s new innovation district, currently being developed by Bruntwood SciTech. Formerly known as ID Manchester, the £1.7bn development is situated across 22 acres of the former north campus of the University and was launched with its new branding as ‘Sister’ on 27 September by Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham.
Mike Harrison, Chief Operating Officer at Concretene said: “Our team in Manchester has a unique combination of expertise and experience across construction and nanomaterial science, which will enable us to deliver our next stage of development and earn industry confidence and certification.
“With the support of our funders and strategic partners Arup and Black Swan Graphene, we’re now well-placed to move forward rapidly to commercialisation.”
George Chalmers, Head of Climate, Molten Ventures said: “Concretene has made tremendous strides in getting its technology out of the lab and into meaningful real- world projects and applications. Its solution, viable today, is poised to make a meaningful impact in reducing emissions in one of the hardest to abate sectors.”
