Concretene, a University of Manchester spin-out, has raised £4.5m in the first close of a Series A round to scale up production of what it calls “Manchester graphene” for use in concrete. The round was announced on Friday during a visit by Jonathan Reynolds, the business secretary, to the company’s materials testing facility in Manchester’s Sister innovation district.
The round includes £2m from PXN Equity Finance, part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II (NPIF II) and managed by PXN Ventures. Concretene’s existing backers LocalGlobe and Molten Ventures also invested.
Concretene is developing a circular manufacturing programme that would use biogas from local wastewater, supplied by United Utilities, as a feedstock for carbon-negative graphene produced at multiple-tonne scale in Manchester. The company says the graphene would be used to cut the carbon footprint of concrete assets for the water sector and the wider construction industry.
Concretene said the money would fund industrial-scale admixture manufacturing, scaled concrete trials with industrial partners and the Manchester graphene programme.
According to Concretene, its admixture has shown in laboratory and previous scaled trials the potential to remove 10 to 20 per cent of the cement from commonly used industry mixes with no impact on strength, durability, batching or placement.
The company said the product is designed to be cost-neutral at scale, so buyers pay standard concrete prices with no green premium.
LocalGlobe first backed Concretene in 2022, followed by Molten and Arup, the engineering consultancy, which supports technical development and industry adoption.
Mike Harrison, chief executive of Concretene, said: “This round takes us from the lab to multi-tonne manufacturing. Backing from the British Business Bank through PXN, more than matched by investors who have stood behind us for four years, means Manchester graphene can cut carbon from British construction without adding cost.”
Reynolds’ visit coincided with a Number 10 North meeting between Andy Burnham, the prime minister, Reynolds and small business representatives, as the government announced measures to ease costs and administrative burdens on small firms ahead of the Budget.
Reynolds said: “Small businesses and innovation go hand in hand in this country, with so many great companies like Concretene developing new ideas that set them apart from the competition and turn them into jobs. That’s why we’re helping unlock the potential of small businesses through removing £800 million worth of everyday paperwork and bureaucracy.
“I congratulate Mike and his team for securing £2m in backing from the British Business Bank to back their future growth plans. It was an honour to meet them on Friday and try my hand at filling concrete moulds.”
Louise Chapman, NPIF II fund principal at PXN Ventures, said: “As well as being the birthplace of graphene, Manchester and the wider North West region has a long history of producing world-leading companies in the advanced manufacturing space.
“As the fund manager for NPIF II in the North West, we’re proud to be backing Concretene as it embarks on its next growth chapter, moving ever closer to a range of commercially scalable products with various industrial applications to lower the construction industry’s carbon footprint.”
Sue Barnard, senior investment manager at the British Business Bank, said: “This investment from the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II will help Concretene scale up its manufacturing capabilities and bring its graphene-enhanced products closer to wider commercial use.
“Supporting businesses that turn innovation into practical scalable solutions is key to strengthening the North’s advanced manufacturing sector, reflecting the wider ambitions of the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy to support UK economic growth.”
NPIF II is a £660m British Business Bank fund offering loans and equity of up to £5m to smaller businesses in the North of England, according to the bank. Earlier this month the bank allocated £17.5m for Greater Manchester out of more than £57m for five northern Innovation Clusters, delivered by NPIF II equity managers including PXN Ventures.
The round follows a £4m raise this month by Liverpool AI materials spin-out Matter Machine.
Oxford, Cambridge and London produced almost half of UK university spin-outs founded between 2013 and 2024 and attracted two-thirds of the venture capital going into the sector, according to a review by Tony Hickson published by UK Research and Innovation in February.
