An award-winning company whose software helps optimise the design of offshore windfarms has raised £750,000 in the first investment by the new North East Accelerate Fund, which is managed by Mercia Ventures.
Kinewell’s solutions have been used on projects worldwide and the company, which is based in Wallsend, won the King’s Award for Enterprise for International Trade last year. The investment will unlock a further six-figure sum in grant funding, bringing the total raised to over £1m. It will enable Kinewell to accelerate technology development and commercialisation, and to almost double in size within the next six months with the creation of ten new jobs.
Kinewell was founded by engineer Andrew Jenkins while studying for a PhD at Newcastle University. The first product, launched in 2015, helps to optimise the design of cable layouts.
The technology – which combines AI, supercomputing power and advanced algorithms – can assess millions of different options and identify the most effective materials and layouts in minutes. It typically saves 20% on the costs of the cabling system while cutting months off the development time.
The company now also offers software to design turbine layouts and transmission systems. Its latest products take account of the interactions between all three – cabling, turbine and transmission systems – and claim to reduce the cost of offshore wind farms by 6%, which can make all the difference when securing investment for a project.
Kinewell currently employs 12 staff and has a client base that includes global players such as Equinor, SSE Renewables, Parkwind and Eurus Energy. The Accelerate funding is its first external investment. The company is currently working on three grant-funded innovation and development projects.
The global offshore wind market was valued at around $56 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach almost $299 billion by 2034, according to a report by Research and Markets. A recent wind auction by the UK government secured a record 8.4 GW of capacity and unlocked £22bn of investment.
Andrew Jenkins, founder and CEO, said: “Offshore wind is an ideal way to decarbonise our energy supply and improve energy security. Our goal is to bring down costs and reduce the time it takes to develop new wind farms, which in turn will make wind energy more attractive and help unlock further investment into the industry.
“Kinewell’s solutions have already helped some of the world’s largest renewable energy producers significantly reduce lead times and save hundreds of millions of pounds. This funding will help us build on that success.”
Chris McCourt of Mercia Ventures said: “Kinewell has achieved remarkable success despite limited investment to date. With offshore wind entering a new growth phase, it is well positioned to capitalise on this. This investment will help unleash its potential and secure its position as the leading software of its type for the industry.”
The North East Accelerate Fund, which is managed by Mercia Ventures, offers up to £1m investment for early-stage companies across the region. It was established by The North East Fund with the support of The North East Combined Authority, led by Mayor Kim McGuinness.
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