Two pioneering Oxfordshire high-tech companies have raised more than £10m to commercialise their technology.

Green Biologics, of Milton Park, raised £4.9m to perfect its method of using heat-loving microbes to make biochemicals that bring down the cost of biofuels, while P2i raised £5.5m to market its liquid-repellent coating, used in Hi-Tec trainers.

P2i, also at Milton Park, this month sees its technology feature in a popular YouTube video of 'Liquid mountaineering’, featuring runners appearing to walk on water wearing Hi-tech shoes.

The company has doubled its workforce to more than 60 and scaled up its operations, which are now across Europe, North America and Asia (China, Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia).

Chief executive Carl Francis said: “We are now really beginning to gain momentum, with our world-leading liquid-repellent nano-coating technology being used by a range of customers in a range of high-volume products around the world.

“The jump in royalty revenue is a clear indication of our prospects as our customers ramp up the usage of our technology.”

He added: “A clear indication of the numerous opportunities in new markets that we are developing is that over a third of all new hearing aids worldwide were processed with our revolutionary Aridion nano-coating in April.

“The demand across a number of substantial international industry markets has been very strong — beyond hearing aids, we are confident of developing opportunities in the huge mobile devices market. We have great shareholders, and their support at such an economically difficult time has enabled us to continue to grow the business rapidly and expand.”

Green Biologics’ existing investors were joined by Capricorn Venture Partners in backing its technology, which is a more environmentally-friendly way of generating power than conventional fossil fuels.

Green Biologics chief executive Sean Sutcliffe said the investment showed his company’s leading position in commercialisation of bio-butanol, using waste cellulose.

“Funds raised will allow us to accelerate our commercialisation programme in our key markets of China, India, Brazil and the US, by providing customers with retrofit packages to convert ethanol plants to bio-butanol and with fermentation and process technology solutions for existing and new build bio-butanol plants.

“It will also allow us to continue to invest in our technology development programme to reduce the production cost of bio-butanol from agricultural by-product and waste feedstocks for the advanced biofuel market.”

Claude Stoufs, of Capricorn Venture Partners, predicted that Green Biologics would be the first company in the world to have its technology used at full industrial scale to produce bio-butanol at competitive prices.

“We are comfortable that the current round of financing will greatly contribute to reaching this ambitious objective,” he said.