A company which has developed a more environmentally-friendly range of refrigerant gases has received a £750,000 investment to boost its growth from The North West Fund for Mezzanine, managed by Enterprise Ventures.
Refrigerant Solutions (RefSols), which is based in Liverpool, provides replacements for the ozone-depleting gases which are used in refrigeration and air conditioning systems.
The funding will allow the company to take advantage of the global demand for replacements as the current refrigerants are phased out and allow it to create a number of senior technical and sales jobs.
The Montreal Protocol, an international agreement introduced in 1987 to protect the ozone layer, banned the use of ozone-depleting CFCs worldwide and is now controlling the phase-out of the less damaging HCFCs. In many cases these have been replaced by HFCs, which do not deplete the ozone layer but which require a full and often unsatisfactory refit of existing equipment.
RefSols, which was founded in 2004 by award-winning inventor John Poole, provides “drop in” replacements for all of these gases, which require few or no changes to the equipment with the added benefit that they are compatible with existing lubricants. Its products are manufactured on contract in the North West.
Will Clark of Enterprise Ventures which manages The North West Fund for Mezzanine, said: “Ozone-depleting substances are used in the refrigeration and air conditioning industries worldwide. The need to find replacements which can be used with existing equipment represents a global market opportunity. This investment will help RefSols to take advantage of this demand and boost its export sales.”
The North West Fund for Mezzanine is financed by the European Regional Development Fund and the European Investment Bank.