Tech firm Sunstone bags nearly £600k investment on Crowdcube

UK technology company, Sunstone has raised £592k via Crowdcube.

The round, which ran for just over five weeks, saw over 450 investors back the company to help it reach a level of over-funding against an initial target of £500k.

One of the drives said to be behind investor interest is that Sunstone plays across sectors including: manufacturing; technology; telecommunications and renewable energy.

It has developed solar powered products that provide surveillance, wireless networks and satellite communications to sites around the world.

Sunstone chose crowdfunding to raise equity investment at a crucial stage in its development after finding scale up capital through traditional sources difficult to obtain.

The opportunity to crowdfund the necessary investment meant that Sunstone could connect people with its products and approach: to disrupt expensive and ineffective processes by applying smarter thinking with ground-breaking technology.

“To have over-exceeded target, in our first ever raise, underlines that we’ve developed a product and technology people believe in,” said Paul Schelhaas, co-founder and CEO of Sunstone.

“From busy British motorways to industries operating in remote environments, our products cater for all manner of scenarios without the need for groundworks, civil engineering or bureaucracy. It is something we’re seeing a huge amount of interest in.”

Its core product, The Solar IP CCTV System (SICS), is already being used by some of the biggest businesses in construction, oil and gas.

Following the fundraise, Sunstone will add two new products to its portfolio. The majority of the investment will be used to build a unit for the UK construction and highways infrastructure market.

While delivering the same benefits as the SICS, this will be smaller, more portable and designed for shorter turnaround jobs. The ambition is to build at least 30, with production starting early next year and the first unit available in May 2019.

The company, with offices in both London and Kent, is currently recruiting for business development positions to support the expansion.

Schelhaas added: “We are ideally placed to take on the challenges posed by today’s socio-economic and geo-political environments.

“As an innovative, British technology company that is manufacturing products based on renewable energy, we believe we can provide governments and businesses in defence, telecommunications and construction a way to deliver the projects they need to, while simultaneously helping to reduce their carbon footprint.”

Looking to promote your product/service to SME businesses in your region? Find out how Bdaily can help →