The Engineer – Metal-organic frameworks tech secures £8m Series A investment

The investment into Promethean Particles was led by Mercia Ventures and Aramco Ventures, with participation from existing investors including the Midlands Engine Investment Fund I, Nottingham University, TSP Ventures, and the East Midlands Early Growth Fund.

MOFs are a class of materials composed of metal ions interconnected by organic molecules to form a porous, lattice-like structure. Their architecture gives them an exceptionally high surface area and customisable pore sizes, which allows them to trap and store gases and liquids. This makes MOFs highly effective for applications such as gas storage and separation, carbon capture, and catalysis.

In a statement, James Stephenson, CEO of Promethean, said. “It is increasingly evident that a viable carbon capture solution is required to help mitigate the effects of climate change. MOFs show significant promise as a technological solution and Promethean’s manufacturing technology enables their production at unprecedented scale and cost-effectiveness. I couldn’t be prouder of the Promethean team for all that they have accomplished to help make this investment a reality.”

The company has developed a proprietary continuous-flow reactor that improves the throughput and cost of MOF production and increases process reliability and consistency, without sacrificing critical quality parameters.

Promethean currently produces a wide portfolio of MOFs for customer applications including carbon capture and storage (CCS), biogas upgrading, water harvesting and gas separation and storage.

Dr Marina Fuentes, investment manager at Mercia Ventures, said, “Promethean Particles is uniquely positioned to capitalise on the fast-growing MOF market through their innovative manufacturing reactor technology, which addresses the bottlenecks of cost and scalability. We are thrilled to support a highly capable team and a cutting-edge technology that has been developed over 15 years and is now ripe for commercialisation at scale.”

The new investment will enable the Nottingham-based company to build a scaled-up manufacturing facility, expand the team, and implement further projects that demonstrate the potential of MOFs in energy transition applications.