Participated · Equity · Jan 2022

Orbital Systems develops water-recycling technology for domestic appliances, best known for its 'Shower of the Future' that can deliver up to 90% water savings and 80% energy savings. Founded in Malmö in 2012 by Mehrdad Mahdjoubi from a project between NASA and Lund University, the company holds a global portfolio of more than 100 patents. Its showers have saved one million litres of water since the end of 2014, and it operates showrooms in Malmö, Copenhagen, and Stockholm. Orbital positions itself as the only company on the market able to reduce water consumption without compromising user comfort. The company plans to expand its product offering and accelerate commercial expansion, with the next product slated for launch in 2022. The recent financing will be used to increase the pace of its commercial rollout and broaden its product range. Orbital Systems is a Sweden-based cleantech startup whose main product, the Oas, is a water-recirculation shower system that collects, analyses, cleans, heats and reuses shower water. The company says Oas can save up to 90% of water and 80% of the energy used in showers. Its system analyses water quality up to 20 times per second and purifies water using a micron filter and UV light. Oas also captures data on water quality and usage that can be monitored via a mobile app. Orbital Systems plans to use its recent financing to advance commercialisation of the product and to explore additional applications for its technology. Orbital Systems develops OAS, a closed‑loop shower that recirculates and re‑purifies shower water using filter technology developed in collaboration with NASA. The system can be sold as a retrofit or a new installation and senses when water is clear enough to recycle versus when it must be discarded. Orbital’s filters remove bacteria and other contaminants each cycle, and the looped design reduces heating needs by reheating water rather than heating fresh water. The company claims OAS uses about 5 litres of water for a shower that would normally consume up to 150 litres over 15 minutes. Mehrdad Mahdjoubi is the founder and CEO and frames the tech as conserving resources as on space missions. Mahdjoubi said the company aims to apply the technology beyond showers to other domestic appliances, hinting at products such as a washing machine.

Participated · Seed · Apr 2013

Virtusize offers a virtual fitting tool that displays and overlays 2D silhouettes of garments to let customers compare specific measurements between an item they are viewing and a similar item they already own. The solution focuses on fit rather than a 3D visualisation of how clothes look, and requires shoppers to own a comparable garment or enter measurements manually. The company charges web shops a monthly subscription fee determined by monthly page views on product pages where Virtusize is available. Founded in Spring 2011, Virtusize launched a pilot with Nelly.com in autumn 2011 and has since expanded availability to over 30,000 garments at 23 web shops, serving roughly 50,000 users per month. It recently launched in the UK via a partnership with ASOS after a six-month trial, initially rolling the "Fit Visualiser" out on product pages for over 2,000 ASOS own-brand items. The startup has raised £1 million in seed funding from investors including Swedish listed investment company Öresund and several angel investors such as Fredrik Åhlberg.