North East tech innovation firm makes first investment in London cleantech startup

A North East technology innovation centre has made its first investment in a London-based cleantech startup.

CPI Enterprises, the investor engagement and ventures arm of CPI, has invested in cleantech Qualus.

Qualus aims to reduce water and chemical consumption within the leather industry, through its patented Sfere technology that cuts the use of water by up to 40 per cent and chemicals by up to 15 per cent in leather tanning and retanning.

The firm has secured £1m of financing from lead investor Irrus Investments, an Ireland based angel syndicate, along with investment from CPI, Cambridge Capital Group and Harvard Business School Alumni Angels of London.

This latest investment will enable Qualus to benefit from innovation knowledge and facilities as it develop its second product and continues to expand its international customer base.

Alfredo Ramos Plasencia, managing director of CPI Enterprises, commented: “Our first investment into Qualus is an example of CPI investing in the long-term health of the environment, by accelerating and enabling innovative products that transform the way industries work.

“Our ventures and enterprises team leverages our organisation’s world class expertise and assets to help high-potential growth companies in sustainability and healthcare get their technologies into market”.

“From the first day, we were impressed by the calibre and professionalism of Qualus’ leadership team. We saw that Qualus had the rare intersection of both a formidable team and a promising technology that addresses a real problem, which made Qualus an attractive first opportunity for us.”

Vikrant Pratap, Qualus CEO added: “Consumers are increasingly demanding a more environmentally aware approach from producers, and the leather industry is keen to innovate in this way.

“So, the opportunity for our Sfere technology is global and established. With visionary investors such as Alfredo and the team at CPI Enterprises on board, we can now rollout our greentech globally at a much faster rate.”

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