StirLight, a deep-tech manufacturing company based in the East Midlands, has secured £1.25m in funding to support the commercialisation of its technology.
The funding package includes more than £750,000 in pre-seed investment from Haatch Ventures, British Business Bank, D2N2 and angel investors. This is alongside approximately £500,000 in grant funding from Innovate UK and Aerospace Technology Institute across two research and development projects.
The company said the funding will support pilot deployments of its StirSense system with industrial partners, the creation of engineering and data science roles, and further development of its core technology platform.
StirLight is seeking partnerships with manufacturers in aerospace, automotive, defence and energy sectors that aim to integrate real-time quality assurance into friction stir welding operations.
Chief executive Toby Savage-Yu said: “FSW produces some of the best joints in the world. The problem has always been proving it at scale, and that is what StirSense solves.
“We are delighted by the support from Innovate UK, ATI, and our pre-seed investors who moved quickly to back this critical technology.
“We have been building this company over the last two years and the team’s work to get us here has been exceptional. We are looking forward to putting this funding to work and showing what UK manufacturing innovation can deliver.”
The company has been trading since March 2024 and operates from its facility in North Derbyshire. It has developed its capability while generating revenue from friction stir welding services and contract manufacturing for clients in the aerospace, automotive and nuclear sectors.
Chief technology officer Jeroen De Backer said: “FSW inherently produces high-value, multi-sensor data streams. The missing piece has been the capability to fuse and interpret that data in real time. StirSense closes that gap, enabling in-process quality verification, fundamentally changing how weld integrity is assured.”
Pre-seed advisors to the company included gunnercooke, Innovate Growth UK and Venture.Community.
Image source: Stirlight
