Two of BGF’s portfolio companies – Amdaris and Aceleron – have joined forces to create a two-way communications device that monitors the effectiveness of sustainable battery technologies both in the UK and overseas.
Aceleron is a UK developer of serviceable battery solutions, which received a £2 million equity investment from BGF in 2020 to scale the production of its unique circular economy battery technology and to expand its reach across global markets.
It partnered with BGF portfolio company Amdaris, earlier this year to create a two-way communications device that enables users to check on the lifecycle of their battery to troubleshoot problems, boost performance and ultimately save costs.
Bristol-based Amdaris is an industry-leading software developer and digital transformation specialist. The company received £6 million in funding from BGF last year and this project is an example of its outsourced software solutions that enable businesses to gain access to industry leading developers for digital projects and transformation programmes.
Alix Stuart, head of agile delivery at Amdaris, said: “Amdaris works to guide and lead our delivery teams to solve problems for existing and new customers. We create specialist software teams for people that might not have immediate access to the resources in-house. It removes the headaches associated with sourcing experienced talent which can slot in immediately with their operations.
“This project will enable Aceleron to get the best possible information on the lifecycle of its batteries both here in the UK and overseas. We’ve created a specialist software solution to solve the missing part of the puzzle in its sustainable battery technology.”
As part of the delivery programme, Amdaris has built a team that will continue to work in-house at Aceleron. The team includes front and back-end developers, a senior developer and a specialist project manager.
Matt Isted, Chief Product Officer at Aceleron, added: “We have never outsourced a project like this before, however, it became immediately clear that we needed a specialist resource to create this unique communication device. The batteries we create are serviceable, however, we need up-to-date information to gauge the performance and health of the batteries remotely. Software is the first step in terms of getting that info. All information will now be available to the customer on our website; later down the line we’ll be looking at mobile apps to check battery health as well.”
The comms solution will be launched officially in July. It is currently being tested at Sheffield University before being rolled out to international markets.
Matt added: “We have really enjoyed working with Amdaris and due to the great work carried out on the communication device we have now started a second project with the team. The whole ethos of our company is based on the circular economy of batteries and this project will enable us to enhance the lifecycle of our batteries even further. It means we now have a workable data logging project that can monitor the efficiencies of batteries on the other side of the world which is a completely unique proposition.”
James Skade at BGF, said: “We’re absolutely delighted that two of our portfolio companies are working in partnership on this innovative solution. It highlights the breadth of the skills and offerings we have under the BGF umbrella and would invite other companies to explore the solutions BGF can offer to see if partnership projects are also for them.”