UK pollution detection firm secures £2.25m backing
Duvas Technologies, based in Woking, develops equipment for detecting nitrogen dioxide, ozone and sulphur dioxide
Surrey-based Duvas Technologies has secured £2.25 million investment from London private equity fund manager Calculus Capital, the emissions detection developer announced yesterday (April 7).
Duvas Technologies has secured £2.5m investment
Originally spun-out of Imperial College in 2008, Duvas Technologies produces equipment that enables remote sensing and identification of airborne chemicals and gases via ‘ultra-violet absorption spectroscopy systems’.
The equipment is used in a range of areas, including air quality management, where it can detect pollutants including ozone, nitrogen dioxide and sulphur dioxide.
The Woking firm has developed emissions detection technologies to monitor air pollution in major cities and industrial centres around the world, with clients including the US Environmental Protection Agency, the Belgian EPA and Rotterdam Harbour.
It has also worked with the Shanghai Environmental Monitoring Center, via distributors in Europe and China, as well as operating in the oil, gas and industrial sectors to identify toxic chemicals. In addition, Duvas equipment has applications for use by security and emergency services.
“Tighter regulation is driving growing demand for this technology and our investment will enable Duvas to further expand into the US market, as well as focus on new geographies” – John Glencross, Calculus Capital.
Calculus
John Glencross, chief executive of Calculus Capital, said: “The technology developed by Duvas is playing a vitally important role in helping to detect and monitor harmful pollutants. The applications for this technology address a wide range of sectors and markets, worldwide. In addition to the technology itself, we were impressed by Duvas’s experienced and capable management team.
“Tighter regulation is driving growing demand for this technology and our investment will enable Duvas to further expand into the US market, as well as focus on new geographies.”
Duvas’s first commercial UV spectroscopy unit, the DV3000, has obtained the CE Mark for sales in Europe and is patent protected. Duvas is currently undergoing certification for sales into the US.
According to Duvas, its core technology comprises software and algorithms, together with an expanding library of gas signatures that allows it to programme its devices to recognise specific gases.