GeoPura is a trailblazer within sustainable innovation. They provide a zero-emission solution for generating, storing, and distributing the energy needed to drive the global transition to clean power by giving customers the power to decarbonize their consumption of temporary, backup, off-grid, and grid augmentation energy.
At the heart of their offering is their proprietary hydrogen power technology, the HPU, which is produced in collaboration with Siemens Energy (UK) and a network of hydrogen production sites. It is a collaboration Julian Hobbs, CEO at Siemens Financial Services UK, has said is tangible evidence of "real progress in the UK hydrogen value chain, from ever-growing production capacity to downstream processing."
Their creation of the HPU™ has seen them create a series of landmark successes within the cleantech sector.
They closed a £22 million in investment to fund the expansion of their fleet and its global deployment, pioneering green hydrogen finance in the UK in the process. This was the first major asset-backed debt funding announcement for a green hydrogen business in the UK. They received long-term funding support from a distinguished consortium of financial institutions, including BNP Paribas Leasing Solutions, Close Brothers Asset Finance, HSBC UK and Siemens Financial Services.
This first of a kind asset-backed financing followed an earlier £36 million Series A funding round in February 2023 and a £56 million investment round in February 2024. Through these investment rounds GeoPura has achieved a strong and diverse backing from key global investors GM Ventures, Barclays Sustainable Impact Capital, SWEN CP through its fund SWEN Impact Fund for Transition 2, Siemens Energy Ventures and the National Wealth Fund.
The company has set a roadmap explaining how they will use this unprecedented level of funding to accelerate their expansion plans, plans that will see the manufacture and deployment of over 3,600 HPU™ generators by 2033 and build on an already impressive client list that includes the DP World Golf Tour, the BBC, Balfour Beatty, and the National Grid.
HOW IP PLAYED ITS PART IN GEOPURA'S SUCCESS
As you can imagine, Potter Clarkson’s involvement with GeoPura is linked to the development of the intellectual property (IP) portfolio. The company was at great pains to create IP that could support the development and commercialisation of their hydrogen power technology and HPU™ brand.
We were approached early on in their relationship with Siemens Energy as they recognised the critical need to put IP in place, as Potter Clarkson partner and long-term GeoPura collaborator, Dave Clark, explains:
“During COVID we met up to brainstorm exactly what they had and how they planned to use their IP to move their collaboration with Siemens forward. This ended up with us filing what I can only describe as a monster patent application covering 12 different inventions which we filed internationally as a PCT patent application.This initial application was designed to really put a marker down, to get them as much scope for obtaining patent protection down the line in as cost-effective way as possible. Taking this approach was very deliberate; it meant it would be another 2½ years before they had to do much else or incur much more cost on the patent side. I felt sure that by that time GeoPura would be in a very different position because of how strong their technology and their plans for it were.”
It was also clear that trade marks as well as patents would play a major role in their future. Harrison Lee, Senior Associate in Potter Clarkson’s trade mark team and a core member of our GeoPura team, takes up the story:
My first involvement was to talk to the GeoPura team about where they saw their brand going, how they planned to develop it. From there we could see what needed to be protected immediately. The first priority was protecting their name GeoPura and then, subsequently, the name for their hydrogen power technology – the ‘HPU’. The latter has been the real vehicle for their growth and was even more important because while they were on version one, version two was in the pipeline. We spent a lot of time helping them protect the GeoPura name and the HPU logo in the UK, EU, Australia, the US, Canada, New Zealand, and India.As with the patent coverage, we needed to get the trade mark coverage right, particularly in the early stages, as it was important to future proof their portfolio.”
With a broad range of IP coverage in place, GeoPura then went to speak to investors, a series of conversations that ended in the success reported at the beginning of this case study.
Potter Clarkson was first involved at this stage in their meeting with a potential investor to help GeoPura tell their IP story.
Much of this story revolved around the chosen strategy. For the investors, filing a single PCT application could sound like quite an unusual approach, but it was the best option for the client. Our job was to explain why and provide more detail as to how we had built their patent specifically to distinguish it from an earlier product that had been on the market, assuring the investors the product would launch with the scope for protecting it in a way that it would need to succeed.
From these initial filings, Potter Clarkson has continued to provide updates on their burgeoning IP portfolio to support the subsequent rounds of funding they have very successfully undertaken.
As with all investments, being able to see exactly what IP a potential investee has is a massively persuasive factor for an investor and a key component of their final investment decision. As such, the ability to prove the required IP is in place and actively being used to build the business’ value cannot be underestimated.
Dave continues the story:
Aside from that fact GeoPura have got genuinely great technology - technology that provides a very real solution for the core environmental problem they identified at the start of their journey – the best bit of working together has been to see the business grow so quickly to see them earn the recognition that they so richly deserve.It’s grown from Andrew Cunningham and a few others to what is now a significant sized team, a team that now includes their newly appointed General Counsel. This is an appointment that underlines the importance they place on maintaining very hands-on management of their IP given the part their portfolio has played in their success and the accolades and plaudits their tech has earned.”
From a branding specialist, Harrison is also a firm believer in their ability to market the brand so effectively:
In a relatively short period of time, they have gone from being a start-up to being recognised as a top green tech company, recently recognised in the inaugural edition of The Sunday Times top 100 Tech companies, ranking Britain’s fastest-growing private technology companies. This position has been reinforced by a series of appearances on the BBC - Spring Watch presenter Chris Packham has been a very public advocate - and Sky TV. The HPU™ generators are also increasingly being used to power gigs, festivals and sporting events. This coverage has springboarded their success by putting GeoPura in full public view.”
GeoPura is now one of the largest hydrogen producers in the UK, operating a fleet of over 60 HPUs and employing 130 skilled workers around the UK.
