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The company that converts footsteps into energy is partnering with the Hinduja Group.
Engineering and manufacturing conglomerate, Hinduja Group, has partnered with U.K. firm Pavegen to help support its growth and expansion into key markets. Pavegen, which converts the kinetic energy of footfall into off-grid power and data, is seeking to reduce the cost of manufacturing and bring its technology to more cities across India, Southeast Asia, North America and the Middle East.
A new crowdfunding campaign on Crowdcube aims to raise £5 million to allow for a higher volume of Pavegen units to be produced and sold at reduced cost.
The funding round follows a series of milestones for Pavegen. The company generated £1.8 million in 2018, with installations including smart city developments, retail destinations, transport hubs and education institutions in Hong Kong, India, Korea, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, the U.K. and the U.S.
Also in 2018, Pavegen signed a memorandum of understanding with global engineering and technology company Siemens to develop smart city projects together. Siemens is connecting Pavegen walkways to cloud-based operating systems, allowing control and monitoring of Pavegen sites from any connected device.
Founded in 2009, Pavegen has delivered 200 projects in 36 countries. Its latest projects are working with Transport for London and New West End Company to create the world’s first smart street, and it is partnering with Google to create an energy- and data-harvesting array in Berlin.
Pavegen has also developed a digital ecosystem that connects to people’s smartphones, rewarding them for steps on Pavegen walkways. Its first shopping center deployment at the Mercury mall in East London has reportedly raised engagement with the site by 15 percent.
“We’re helping people to change the world for the better, through the power of a footstep. Our product isn’t hidden away on roofs or offshore somewhere – people can physically participate in a smarter, more sustainable future,” said Laurence Kemball-Cook, CEO of Pavegen. “Working with the Hinduja Group will help us to make our technology available to more communities around the world.”