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Crowdfunding campaign planned to make waves in Welsh marine power

27 May 2021 3 minute read
Marine Power Systems

A crowdfunding campaign is being planned to make waves in Welsh marine power.

Swansea-based Marine Power Systems just opened pre-registration for early access to a crowdfunding campaign on Crowdcube due to go live later in June

The firm has also received a £950,000 investment from a syndicate of Welsh investment angels.

Led by lead investor Andrew Diplock, the syndicate of 15 investors has invested £700,000 along with £250,000 match funding from the Development Bank of Wales’ Wales Angel Co-investment Fund.

A further £750,000 from private investors has brought the total to £1.7 million. The crowdfunding campaign aims to bring the total raise to a minimum of £2.5m.

Formed in 2008 by Dr Gareth Stockman and Dr Graham Foster, Marine Power Systems says it is revolutionising the way we harvest energy from the world’s oceans.

The company says it is on track to be a world leader in the supply of floating wind and wave energy extraction hardware by having the highest performance and most cost-effective technology available in the market.

Following successful medium scale testing of their fully patent protected marine energy generation technology, the company is now working at megawatt scale to demonstrate its grid connected technology ahead of commercialisation.

‘Final stage’ 

Dr Gareth Stockman said: “We are now working at full-scale and this represents the final stage of our testing programme before we are in a position to deliver commercial devices to our customers.

“The business is already creating significant traction in the market and we have a number of revenue generating pre-commercial projects in the pipeline that will further prove the effectiveness of our technology ahead of delivering our devices into first utility scale commercial arrays both here in the UK and overseas.”

“This latest fundraise represents a fantastic investment opportunity prior to an institutional equity funding round later this year. The continued support of investors means that we’re right at the heart of the green growth agenda. We’re very grateful for their support.”

Andrew Diplock said: “With the International Energy Agency forecasting global energy needs to expand 30% by 2040 – the equivalent of adding another China and India to today’s global energy demand – marine renewable energy represents the largest source of sustainable and cost competitive electricity generation. 20% of UK demand alone could be met by marine by 2050.”

“This is a huge opportunity for the UK as part of an island nation to lead the way in this new sector; creating jobs and supply chain opportunities that really put Wales firmly on the global map.

“With a background in energy, it’s a real privilege to support Welsh SMEs as a co-investor but it is particularly exciting to be working with such a like-minded syndicate of angels who all share a commitment to investing for the benefit of future generations.”


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