Riversimple

Idea

Introduction

As a company, we're focused on eliminating, systematically, the environmental impact of personal transport. We are making lightweight electric cars that are powered by hydrogen rather than batteries – we believe they have a vital role to play in decarbonising transport as quickly and effectively as possible. They offer a zero-emission choice to all those who will find a battery-electric car a constraint.

Our entry vehicle, the Rasa, is a fun-to-drive eco coupe designed for everyday local use, to be followed promptly by a light commercial van, and a 5 seat family vehicle as the network of filling stations matures. People are joining the waiting list for these vehicles on a regular basis.

We've kicked off the trials of the Rasa with the public and are making preparations for volume production.

Substantial accomplishments to date

These cars weigh 650 kilos. We have used a combination of technologies to keep the weight to a minimum and deliver impressive fuel efficiency and environmental performance. Like Formula One cars they are built with strong and lightweight composite materials rather than steel.

With over 2,000 investors we are building a movement of people who want to see this technology commercialised.

Riversimple has signed an agreement with Siemens UK to collaborate over technology and sustainability, as well as skills and learning for the hydrogen mobility sector. Siemens are helping design the volume manufacturing facility.

If all the potential customers who’ve signed up in the UK take a Riversimple vehicle, we will have met our targets for the first 3 years of volume production already.

We have begun engaging with British Local Authorities ahead of our commercial launch with our first agreement already signed.

At the forefront of the hydrogen story in the UK, we are involved in demonstrating the use case for green hydrogen in a smart local energy system in Pembrokeshire ( Milford Haven: Energy Kingdom, supported by Innovate UK).

After being invited to the World Economic Forum for the launch of the Circular Cars Initiative in 2020, we are leading the Circular Revolution, a £2.3m programme part-funded by ERDF to introduce circular economy practice in businesses in Wales and to facilitate circular economy innovation in the supply chain.

Monetisation strategy

Rather than selling cars, we’re designing our vehicles to be offered to customers on a subscription-only basis, to generate a regular, resilient income from a steady customer base over the long term. Our income will come from the cumulative number of vehicles in service rather than the number ‘sold’ annually.

As a customer, you take a car for 1-5 years and pay a monthly fee that covers everything: insurance, all running costs and fuel. As well as hassle-free and simple for the customer, we can make our cars affordable from the start; we will be amortising the vehicle build cost over the full lifetime of the vehicle.

Our model gives us access to both new and 2nd-hand customers; when the subscription ends, customers can choose to renew it or return the car, and we’ll supply it to a 2nd customer, 3rd, 4th and so on. In this business model, the longer the cars last, the more reliable and efficient they are, the happier the customers and the more profitable we will be.

Use of proceeds

Through successful crowd rounds between 2017 and 2019 we have raised over £2.75M. The money raised funded important software and hardware developments and supported vehicle builds. We also installed a hydrogen filling station in the centre of Abergavenny for our Monmouthshire trial.

Proceeds from the Future Fund convertible loan in 2020 were used to recruit more technicians for our build programme and prepare for the launch of trials with the general public, set to begin imminently subject to COVID restrictions.

We plan to use this funding for:

* Expanding the engineering team
* Completion of the trials - channelling customer feedback into the designs for volume production and perfecting the service proposition
* Preparations for siting and designing volume production, working on delivering the most efficient facility possible