Kinewell, a UK cleantech company developing software to optimize offshore wind farm design, secured £750K in funding from the North East Accelerate Fund managed by Mercia Ventures. The investment unlocks additional grant support, bringing total funding to more than £1M. Capital will accelerate product development, commercialization, and company expansion, including plans to create ten new roles over the next six months.
Offshore Wind Optimization Technology
Kinewell develops software that combines AI, advanced algorithms and high-performance computing to optimize offshore wind farm infrastructure. The platform analyzes millions of design scenarios to determine optimal cable layouts, materials, turbine placement and transmission systems. The technology can reduce cabling system costs by around 20% while shortening development timelines by several months. Integrated modelling across cabling, turbine and transmission systems can reduce total wind farm costs by approximately 6%.
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.”
Company Growth and Market Opportunity
Founded by engineer Andrew Jenkins during doctoral research at Newcastle University, Kinewell launched its first optimization product in 2015. The company now employs 12 staff and works with global energy companies including Equinor, SSE Renewables, Parkwind and Eurus Energy. The company received the King’s Award for Enterprise for International Trade and currently participates in several grant-funded innovation projects.
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.”