Rotimi Alabi

The investment round, which also includes London-based Newable Ventures, Scottish Enterprise and existing investors, will help RAB-Microfluidics strengthen its team and further develop its product roadmap as the company enters its next phase of growth.

The company, a startup out of the University of Aberdeen building on over 10 years of research and selected for the TechX Pioneers accelerator programme run by OGTC in Aberdeen in 2018, has developed what it calls “laboratory on a chip” technology so that oil samples from heavy machinery like pumps and generators can be analysed on site instead of being shipped to onshore laboratories.

Through analysing samples on site, operators are able to assess how machinery is performing and when maintenance is required.

Led by Dr Rotimi Alabi, RAB-Microfluidics has a UK and global customer base from the maritime, renewable wind, other power generation, aerospace and defence, processing and manufacturing, oil and gas, and transport industries.

Rotimi Alabi said: “RAB Microfluidics has identified that businesses who own and operate lubricated heavy machinery have a significant challenge around how the conditions which ensure the reliability of such machines are monitored. We are revolutionising oil testing and analysis services by making conventional laboratory procedures mobile, rapid and routine.

“We do this by delivering oil analysis more than one thousand times faster and around ten times cheaper than the current approach that is based on sending oil samples to laboratories.”

Andrew McNeill, Eos Advisory’s managing partner, added: “RAB-Microfluidics is one of the most exciting early stage Scottish technology companies in the energy sector and we’re pleased to have brought together such a strong set of investors to support Rotimi and his team through their next phase of growth.”

Jan Robertson, interim director, Scottish Enterprise, said: “RAB-Microfluidics is a significant early stage technology company with high growth potential that has much to offer a wide range of industries globally. We’ve been working closely with the company in recent years to help it fully commercialise its cutting-edge microfluidic technology. We are pleased to be able to continue our support by participating in this latest funding round and look forward to seeing the company go from strength to strength.”

Scottish accountancy firm MHA Henderson Loggie provided corporate finance support to RAB-Microfluidics on the deal.