The Angel Association (in conjunction with NZTE Escalator) is a running a basic training course called “The Power of Angel Investing” in Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin in February and March (see the course schedule for details). Based on the Angel Capital Education Foundation’s course of the same name, it promises to provide an overview of the angel investment process. The course is aimed at:

• Successful entrepreneurs who have exited from their businesses and have an interest in staying involved in early stage companies.
• High net-worth individuals with senior business experience who now have the time and interest in investing in early stage companies.
• Angel investors who have done from one to three deals.
• Community leaders and entrepreneurial support professionals who are interested in promoting angel investing in their communities.

It’s an all day course, and the cost is between $300-$400 depending on whether or not you’re a member of an associated angel club.  It will be interesting to see whether the penny gap or time elasticity of demand (a whole day is a lot of time to be sitting in front of an instructor) effect attendance.

They’re also running free courses for entrepreneurs on Power Pitching and An Essential Guide to Capital Raising.

With petrol costing $2.06/l this morning, it’s bleedingly obvious that technologies that improve fuel efficiency are increasingly attractive. Venturebeat reported that cleantech investments topped USD 3 billion in 2007, and the trend is upward.

Enter Revolutionary Engines Limited, a New Zealand startup with a new design which claims up to 60x more power than a standard car engine while halving fuel consumption.

The Pitch:

“Revolutionary Engines Limited” (REL) is a company with a design for a fuel efficient, powerful rotary engine. The design is radically different from anything seen before and is truly revolutionary. It’s early stage, but competing with a standard car engine which can sustain 5,000 RPMs, potentially this engine may have 60x the power to weight ratio due to two unique features, sustainable high RPM (50,000+RPM) = 10x more power, multiplied by it firing 6 times per revolution = 60x more power.

The principle of this design is the same as existing 2-stroke combustion engines. Draw air into the engine, pre-compress the air for fast loading of the combustion chamber and purging of spent gases, inject fuel directly into the combustion chamber, ignite it, and harness the power as the combusting gases expand. Existing engines utilise a piston sliding inside a cylinder to achieve this. They lose energy and have limited spinning potential due to the piston stopping at the top and bottom of each stroke. This design utilises a completely balanced rotary system, so no energy is lost to reciprocation, and no such RPM limit is imposed.

Existing engines fire only once per rotation of the output shaft, producing output torque for less than half of the cycle. This design fires six times per revolution of the output shaft, producing 6x the output power during 75% of the engine cycle, so it will have power at low RPM.

The applications for the design are diverse, however this design is especially good for vehicles due to its massive power to weight ratio. All vehicle manufacturers are going to want this engine, currently they are happy to sink huge R&D budgets into refinements that achieve 5% gains. The design is expected to halve fuel consumption in vehicles through a combination of gains, will be cheaper to produce than current technology, will suffer minimal engine wear, and will be capable of burning less potent alternative fuels with fewer and less toxic emissions.

Accomplishments to date:

• Company set up in March 2007
• Provisional patent lodged in August 2007 with assignment to company
• Domain name secured
• January 2008 – Positive report received from invention evaluation panel including two engineers
• May 2008 – Offer of partnership with mechanical engineers

Development plans:

• Do computer-aided design and analysis work
• File PCT patent application
• Construct and test a prototype, and get performance data.
• Analyse data and construct second prototype
• Provide performance data to vehicle manufacturers and take orders
• Approach engine manufacturers to license the technology
• Make technology available to all manufacturers

Revenue Model:

Licensing and Royalties

Key Challenges:

• Overcoming technical issues such as sealing the combustion chamber and dispersing heat
• Financing mass production

Principals & Previous Experience:

Phil Carter, the inventor, has experience in many aspects of the construction industry and running a small company. As a hobby Phil has been working on this engine design for twenty years, as well as spending several years developing a controllable ski sled, which features steering, braking, and suspension. Phil recognises that this is a major project that will need very capable business people behind it. Assembling a team that can develop this design into production models, protect the intellectual property, and license the technology to manufacturers is the priority.

What they want from an investor:

• NZD 100,000 seed funding, with capacity for further funding
• Mentoring and governance expertise
• Mechanical design/engineering commercialisation experience
• Connections in the automotive industry

Dave’s Commentary:

Most of the inventions we see these days are related to software or biotech, and it’s refreshing to see ideas like this come through which relate to physical things in everyday life, could radically change the way we work, and have potential in the manufacturing space.

This is clearly a high-risk seed funding opportunity, but if you have experience in the area it could be very rewarding.

Contact details:

Phil Carter 03 443 8683
info@revolutionaryengines.com” title=”mailto:info@revolutionaryengines.com\”>info@revolutionaryengines.com“>info at revolutionaryengines.com”>info@r…

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