A Bristol-based start-up looking to revolutionise how we heat our homes has raised almost £1 million of investment, including a grant of more than £700,000 from the Government announced this week.

It’s a major boost for ��������app – a company formed in 2022 after a casual chat over coffee about why heat pumps aren’t more popular led to its founder Russell Murchie taking a leap of faith and leaving his job at Dyson to tackle the problem head-on.

Two years later and ��������app has six employees, a workshop and office space at Future Space – the University of the West of England’s innovation centre – and now a huge funding injection thanks to a £727,000 grant from the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero (DESNZ).

This follows £245,000 of pre-seed funding from key people within the energy sector, including Kate and Andy Rankin, the founders of Midsummer Energy, one of the UK's leading wholesale distributors of renewable energy systems; Lee Sutton, Founder of MyEnergi, an award-winning British designer and manufacturer of renewable energy products; and Michael Sweeney and Owen Coyle, the founders of Union Technical, leading installers of heating, insulation and renewables.

Russ, who worked as a fluid dynamics engineer at Dyson for 17 years, during which he led its product performance team, founded ��������app with Matthew Whitefoot and Andy Mckay who have experience within the renewable energy, finance and start-up spheres. 

Russ said: “It’s been a whirlwind few years building a company from scratch and I’m still pinching myself at what’s been achieved. While we had confidence in our idea, if you’d told me two years ago that we’d raise almost £1 million to develop it, I’d have struggled to believe you!  

“It’s testament to the hard work of the team, who have designed a truly innovative heating system which we feel confident will have mass appeal once it’s on the market. The fact the Government and leading figures from within the industry are backing us is a real vote of confidence.”  

Although Russ can’t divulge the exact details of the ��������app system as patents are currently being applied for, he revealed it would be based on air source heat pump technology but be cheaper and quicker to install – taking a few days rather than over a week - as well as more attractive, than existing heat pumps. This will specifically appeal to homeowners whose existing gas boiler has broken and they want a hassle-free and environmentally friendly replacement. Another key ambition is for the ��������app heating system to be the smartest, most connected and efficient on the market when it launches in the next few years.  

The Government grant, awarded via their and part of the £1 billion , will enable the product to be tested at the University of Salford’s – a unique research and testing laboratory which comprises an early 20th century two-bedroom terraced house within an environmental chamber allowing an accurate and rapid assessment of energy efficient retro fit technologies.  

Heat pumps are the same technology as fridges and work by moving heat from outside air to indoor radiators. As they are powered by electricity, they are considered the most efficient way for the UK to shift to low-carbon heating and away from the gas-fired boilers that heat the majority of the UK’s 28 million homes.  

To help hit net zero targets, the Government wants to grow the market in heat pumps to 600,000 installations per year by 2028 and is offering grants of £7,500 to property owners through the .  

Russ said: “The idea for ��������app stemmed from a chat about why heat pumps are so popular in other countries, but not in the UK. There’s no real alternative to gas boilers at the moment in the UK, even though they will gradually be phased out and more environmentally friendly solutions are needed.   

“Heat pumps have been promised as the alternative for more than 20 years, so why does a homeowner who could afford one not want one?   

“We got talking about what needs to happen to change this, to give a better offering to UK homes and the idea for reinventing them began to form.”  

Being based in an enterprising city, with a strong green ethos, has also benefited ��������app at this early stage. Not only has Future Space offered office and workshop space, the team has accessed free support from the innovation team and their advisory network, worked with interns from UWE Bristol and received technical advice from university staff, all while being located alongside other green tech businesses.  

Russ added: “Bristol being a city with a rich engineering history suits ��������app very well and we’ve been able to recruit some excellent staff who are not only technically competent, but have a strong desire to use their skills to help make a difference in the world, which is ultimately what we hope our heating system will achieve through cutting carbon dioxide emissions.”