SUSTAINABILITY
PAVEGEN Pavegen takes the idea of power walking to another level by harvesting energy generated by footsteps. Not only can the company’s clever floor tiles be used to generate off-grid power, but customers can also extract data insights about footfall patterns, as well as using them as part of reward schemes. No wonder, then, that the technology has proved popular with backers on the crowdfunding site Crowdcube. Pavegen closed its finance round at the end of June
having secured £2.4m, almost treble its initial target. Notable backers include Tamar Capital and the Hinduja Group, the investment vehicle of the Hinduja brothers, who topped the latest Sunday Times Rich List. Pavegen is the brainchild of CEO Laurence Kemball-Cook, an industrial design graduate who came up with the idea for harvesting energy from footsteps while on a work placement with energy giant E.ON. Founded in 2009, the technology went through over 120 prototypes before hitting upon what appears to be a winning formula. A decade on, Pavegen is operating in 36 countries around the world, mainly in smart city developments, and generated revenue of £1.8m last year. The crowdfunding cash will add further weight to its global expansion plans. The firm has also signed a memorandum of understanding with global engineering and technology giant Siemens to develop smart city projects together. This has seen Siemens connect Pavegen walkways to its cloud-based operating system, allowing control and monitoring of its sites from any connected device. Laurence explains his company, which has its R&D centre at the Future Business Centre on Kings Hedges Road, has since developed a digital ecosystem that connects to people’s
smartphones, rewarding them for steps on Pavegen walkways. Its first shopping centre deployment at The Mercury Mall in East London has apparently raised engagement with the site by 15%. “We believe in placing people at the heart of the smart city,” Laurence says. “That’s why crowdfunding works so well for us, and it’s been great to welcome so many investors into our community. With the support of Hinduja Group, Siemens and Tamar Capital, our plan of making our technology ubiquitous for all cities becomes achievable.” pavegen.com Not only can the comapny's clever floor tiles be used to generate off-grid power, but customers can also extract data insights about footfall patterns, as well as using them as part of a reward scheme"
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