Touchstone, Mercia throw another £3m at Impression Technologies

Touchstone Innovations announced on Wednesday that it participated in a £3.0m Series B funding round in Impression Technologies, which it described as an aluminium forming technology business based on intellectual property developed at Imperial College London.

The AIM-traded firm committed £1.5 million to the round, alongside Mercia Technologies.

Founded in 2012, Impression Technologies developed a patented Hot Formed Quench technology, which allowed manufacturers to form “deep drawn complex shapes” from high and ultra-high strength aluminium.

The result was a high strength, low weight, cost-effective component for structures within car bodies, rolling stock and aircraft assemblies.

Using HFQ technology enabled the replacement of steel with aluminium in critical applications, including those where complex geometries would not otherwise be formable in high strength aluminium grades, the board explained.

HFQ also enabled parts currently made from several components to be formed as a single part, and was reportedly already receiving industry recognition, with Aston Martin using HFQ formed parts on its DB11 model.

“We are delighted to see the progress the company has made since we led the £4.0m funding round in July 2015,” said Touchstone Innovations director of technology ventures Robert Bahns.

“The company opened a state-of the art production and technology development centre in Coventry last year to showcase its innovative technology.

“This has resulted in a huge level of interest from OEMs and parts suppliers and this funding will enable the company to secure further partnerships and supply relationships leading to applications on high volume production vehicles.”