RCS - NetScientific PLC - Q-Bot: £3.5 million investment to drive expansion

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13/09/2023 07:15

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RNS Number : 2253M  NetScientific PLC  13 September 2023

Reach: For release at 07.00, 13 September 2023

 

 

 

 

NetScientific plc

("NetScientific" or the "Company")

Q-Bot secures £3.5 million of investment to drive UK, Europe, and USA
expansion

NetScientific Plc (AIM: NSCI), the deep tech and life sciences VC investment
group, announces that portfolio company Q-Bot has successfully closed a £3.5
million investment program ("Fundraising").

The Fundraising was led by the Company's wholly owned venture capital and
corporate finance firm, EMV Capital, syndicated from a cohort of private
investors and family offices. The new funding will support Q-Bot's growth in
its principal UK market and expansion into Europe and the USA.

Following completion of the Fundraising, the total equity holding of
NetScientific in Q-Bot is diluted to 15.3% (on a fully diluted basis), which
equates to a post-investment fair value of £4.1 million, an increase of 9.2%
from the £3.8 million reported as at 31 December 2022. In addition, following
the introduction of investors to Q-Bot by EMV Capital, the NetScientific
capital under advisory with Q-Bot is 30.7% of the fully diluted share
capital.

Alongside the fundraising, Q-Bot has also announced the appointment of John
Kennedy as its new CEO following his joining Q-Bot in late 2022. John has
extensive experience as CFO and CEO in growth businesses ranging from
start-ups to publicly listed companies in technology and financial services.

Using AI and robotics, Q-Bot's insulation is deployed beneath suspended timber
floors or to the underside of suspended concrete floors. A remotely operated
robotic device applies a continuous layer of spray-foam insulation to the
underside of the floor, resulting in a reduction in heat loss through the
floor and a barrier to cold air draughts.

Q-Bot's advanced insulation is installed in over 200 homes every month, with
revenues increasing by 60% over the past 12 months. In the UK, the Directors
understand that Q-Bot's high performance retrofit insulation has a target
market of 8 to 12 million homes that have suspended floors and which are hard
to treat using traditional forms of insulation.

Lord Callanan, the UK Energy Minister with responsibility for Energy
Efficiency and Green Finance, recently visited Q-Bot's new head office and
retrofit research centre in London. During his visit, Lord Callanan praised
Q-Bot's cutting-edge work and the contribution that Q-Bot was making to
improve the energy efficiency of homes across the UK and in reducing carbon
emissions, a vital component in the journey towards Net Zero.

John Kennedy, CEO of Q-Bot, said:

"This investment is a strong endorsement of our work and recognition of the
market opportunity that exists in the UK and overseas. Our customers, from
private individuals to energy suppliers and providers of social housing are
assured by the comprehensive and professional approach that we take towards
insulating homes whilst leveraging use of state-of-the-art robotics and AI."

Dr Ilian Iliev, CEO of NetScientific and Investment Director of Q-Bot,
commented:

"We are pleased to see Q-Bot close out this important fundraising. The company
continues to make strong progress in scaling sales with its innovative use of
robotics and artificial intelligence in the Construction Technology industry,
and in particular in the retrofit home insulation market. We look forward to
seeing its continued success as it scales beyond the UK market, with a focus
on market entry in the US and EU."

-ends-

 

NetScientific

Ilian Iliev, CEO
 
Via Belvedere Communications

 

WH Ireland (NOMAD, Financial Adviser and Broker)

Chris Fielding / Darshan Patel
 
                +44 (0)20 7220 1666

 

Belvedere Communications

John West / Llew
Angus
+44 (0) 203 008 6867

Email: nsci@belvederepr.com (mailto:nsci@belvederepr.com)

 

About NetScientific

NetScientific plc (AIM: NSCI) is a deep tech and life sciences VC investment
group with an international portfolio of innovative companies.

NetScientific identifies, invests in, and builds high growth companies in the
UK and internationally. The company adds value through the proactive
management of its portfolio, progressing to key value inflection points, and
delivering investment returns through partial or full liquidity events.

NetScientific differentiates itself by employing a capital-light investment
approach, making judicial use of its balance sheet and syndicating investments
through its wholly owned VC subsidiary, EMV Capital. The group secures a
mixture of direct equity stakes and carried interest stakes in its portfolio
of companies, creating a lean structure that can support a large portfolio.

NetScientific is headquartered in London, United Kingdom, and is admitted to
trading on AIM, a market operated by the London Stock Exchange.

www.netscientific.net (http://www.netscientific.net)

About Q-Bot

Q-Bot, founded in 2012 by Tom Lipinski and Professor Peter Childs FREng, is a
provider to the UK Government's Green Homes Local Authority Delivery Scheme,
the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund, Great British Insulation Scheme and
Home Upgrade Grant.

Q-Bot's floor insulation is installed in over 200 homes every month and to
date the company has installed over 4,000 properties across the UK and Europe.
The company works with over 50 registered social housing providers, energy
companies such as E.ON and British Gas, as well as a network of accredited
installers and property agents.

An average-sized UK household, insulated by Q-Bot, could typically save
c.£850 per year in an electrically-heated home, and c.£270 a year in a
gas-heated home. Studies show that the Q-Bot system reduces heat loss through
the floor by 77% and cold draughts by 1/3 for the whole house. With
retrofitting existing buildings seen as essential for the UK to reach Net
Zero, a household using Q-Bot's solution can cut its annual CO₂ emissions by
an average 700 kg.

Q-Bot's work has received grant support from the UK Government and Innovate
UK, and it has won numerous awards, including the CIBSE Building Performance
Award and the Queen's Award for Enterprise (Innovation).

www.q-bot.co (http://www.q-bot.co)

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