Simple-Fill puts $1.7m in the tank

Simple-Fill, a US-based natural gas compression technology spinout from Ohio State University, attracted $1.7m yesterday in a round backed by Ohio State University’s Carmen Innovations Fund.­
Diversified manufacturing conglomerate Worthington Industries led the round, which also included seed-stage investor Rev1 Ventures and undisclosed angel investors.
Founded in 2013, Simple-Fill is developing an approach for delivering compressed natural gas (CNG), a processed substance sometimes used as an alternative motoring fuel to petrol.
Simple-Fill’s CNG technology uses liquid to compress, cool and dehydrate the natural gas, thereby reducing compression costs, fuel turnaround time and the likelihood of leakages. The company was spun out from Ohio State’s Center of Automotive Research.
Simple-Fill and engineering firm Parker Hannifin have an agreement in place to use Parker’s capacity to develop and fulfil orders for Simple-Fill technology. The $1.7m investment will allow Simple-Fill to push ahead with development on its 40 GGE model compressor.
The spinout had amassed $2.5m in debt and equity financing prior to yesterday’s disclosure, according to securities filings. It received $1.7m in equity funding in 2015, a sum inclusive of $930,000 in shares converted from debt notes issued beforehand.
Ohio State invested an undisclosed seed sum in 2014 through its Technology Concept Fund, a spinout-focused partnership between the university and state development program Ohio Third Frontier