Oxford Flow, a UK-based pressure valve manufacturing spinout from Oxford University, secured £6m ($8.4m) yesterday in a round featuring the university and its venturing fund Oxford Sciences Innovation (OSI).
Investment firm Parkwalk Advisors led the round, with commitments from trade organisation Institute of Mechanical Engineering, T Capital Management, RT Capital Management, Thompson Taraz and angel investor Simon Henry.
Oxford Flow makes pressure regulation valves used by water and gas distributors to temper the force of inward fluids to the desired output pressure. The valves are differentiated by more lightweight and compact engineering based on work by co-founder Tom Povey, a professor of engineering science at the Oxford Thermofluids Institute.
The spinout expects the funding to open enough headroom for two to three years as it looks to grow in markets spanning North America, Central America and the Middle East.
In addition to water and gas, Oxford Flow wants to introduce valves for the crude oil sector, followed by industrial processes related to chemicals, power generation, food and drink, marine and construction.
OSI was the sole investor in Oxford Flow’s $1.2m round in 2015, which made Oxford Flow the first spinout to draw capital from the fund.
