Aberdeen-based technology start-up Raptor Oil has secured £4.2 million of investment in a Series C funding round that was led by Statoil Technology Invest (STI), and includes investment from ConocoPhillips.
New investor Scottish Investment Bank, the investment arm of Scottish Enterprise, and The Oil & Gas Technology Centre also participated.
Raptor is developing an acoustic telemetry system for use during well construction and production. It will replace traditional mud pulse telemetry during drilling and provide a 10x improvement in performance, the company said.
Raptor has been through several phases of technology development and concept validation culminating in a successful three-week well test in November.
The company, formed in Aberdeen in 2011 by Colin MacLean and Gordon Cowie, currently has six employees and is now looking to double technical staff as is it moves from research and development to the commercial phase.
Two successful blind tests of the wireless telemetry system demonstrated its plug and play adaptability and high data rate capability under various operational conditions, Cowie, the company’s chief executive officer, said in a statement.
“The funds will be used to strengthen the core development team and to further develop and commercialize the system across a number of key application areas,” Cowie said.
Added Ivar Aune, STI investment manager: “In order to ensure the survival of our industry, it is important that skilled entrepreneurs are provided with access to capital so that they can develop their products and bring these to the market. STI has a portfolio of more than 20 companies and are continuously screening for companies that, like Raptor, are developing technologies that can be implemented in our operations and provide significant gain.”
