Pavegen, a company that has figured out how to generate both electricity and data from footsteps, has raised more than $3 million in a successful crowdfunding campaign.
The U.K.-based company raised 2.51 million pounds from nearly 2,000 investors using the platform Crowdcube. Using Tuesday’s exchange rate, that amounts to about $3.2 million.
The fundraising round, which launched in May and surpassed the company’s goal of 950,000 pounds, was the second time it raised cash using Crowdcube. During a previous fundraising round in 2015, Pavegen raised 1.9 million pounds, or about $2.4 million.
According to TechCrunch, which previously reported the fundraising rounds, Pavegen’s investors include engineering company Hinduja Group and investment firm Tamar Capital.
Pavegen bills itself as “the global leader in converting footfall into off-grid power and data.” The firm has developed triangular, tile-like paving devices that capture kinetic energy and convert it to electricity each time someone step on them. The company has installed the tiles in hundreds of sites across 36 countries.
“Pavegen’s vision is for smarter, more sustainable built environments which empower and connect people,” the company states on its website. “From climate change to rapidly expanding cities, we face complex environmental and social challenges.”
Pavegen says that the electricity generated from its systems can power things such as lights and monitoring equipment.
In addition to electricity, the company’s pavers also generate data on when and how much energy is being generated. Additionally, Pavegen can embed bluetooth sensors in its tiles that communicate with smartphones, creating “rich customer analytics data via a permission-based rewards system,” according to the company website.
In financial details provided as part of its latest crowdfunding campaign, Pavegen says that it brought in more than 478,000 pounds, or over $602,000, in 2016. In 2017, the company grossed just over 135,000 pounds, or more than $163,000.
Pavegen did not respond to Inman’s request for information Tuesday.
However, the company’s website lists a number of partnerships that it has embarked on including with Transport for London, the University of Birmingham, Abu Dhabi Airport and Google.
The partnership with Google is particularly noteworthy given the internet search giant’s own plans to develop “smart cities.” Last month Google advanced those plans when it released a massive master plan for a tech-centric community in Toronto, Canada.
It was not immediately clear Tuesday if Pavegen’s technology will eventually be worked into the Toronto community plans, but the paver company does indicate on its website that it shares something of Google’s desire to improve the world via high technology.
“Our mission is to enable people to change the world for the better through the simple power of a footstep,” Pavegen states.
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