VC funding for Leeds electronics firm
LEEDS electronics business Instrumental is expanding after attracting investment from a venture capitalist.
The company, which manufactures precision measuring equipment, is a University of Leeds spin-out, which was founded in 2001 from the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering.
The company has now made five appointments, including three engineers, in partnership with Manufacturing Futures of the Futures.co.uk group as it looks to expand its team.
Instrumentel recently secured a significant investment from Birmingham-based venture capitalist Alycidon Capital Limited.
Instrumentel, based in the Leeds Innovation Centre, provides operational performance insigts in extreme environments throughout the rail, automotive and industrial industries, and has been contracted with improving piston performance for Formula One vehicles.
The company has also secured a major contract, which will see its products used by Melbourne Metro and a number of other operators, to monitor the performance of train door systems throughout Australia.
Dr David McGorman, Instrumentel’s chief executive, said: “It’s a great time for Instrumentel and after working in a wide range of niche industries and areas, we are now in a position to expand into a number of mainstream markets.
“As part of this strategy we are planning to expand the territories we sell our rail products into, with particular emphasis on Australia and the EU. We also plan to commoditise our F1 engine monitoring technology to enable sales to car manufacturers. The investment from Alycidon Capital Limited will help facilitate this as we increase our design and production capacity, along with improving our product support facilities.
Chris Griffin of Manufacturing Futures said: “There are very few people in the UK with the necessary skills, experience and profile that Instrumentel require so recruiting the right people for them is far from straightforward.
“We proactively target candidates ahead of time and invest significant time and resources into knowing and speaking to people across the sectors we operate in, before an opportunity arises, so we can put the right people forward very quickly when a client need arises.”
