Member Article

Innovative secondary glazing start-up secures £150k investment

Edinburgh startup, Gecko Glazing, has created an affordable, easily-installed alternative to double glazing that can cut window heat loss and carbon emissions by up to 50%. With huge potential to improve inefficient homes, including historic and listed buildings, the company has just secured a £150k investment in a funding round led by British Design Fund.

After years of prototyping and product development, Gecko Glazing was officially launched in 2020 by entrepreneur and former banker Gareth Claase.

With a passion for the environment, Gareth first came up with the idea for his business when looking to double glaze the windows in his own home. After investigating the options, Gareth found that conventional replacement double glazing was hugely expensive and disruptive, and of course resulted in the original historic windows going to landfill. Existing secondary glazing options were typically unattractive,hard to install and poorly performing, so he set about creating a solution.

Gecko Glazing’s patented, made-to-measure, clear acrylic panes are placed inside the frame of an existing window. By trapping a layer of air the panes can cut heat loss and emissions by up to 50%. Compared to traditional double glazing, the cost of Gecko Glazing is considerably lower, and panes take just minutes to install, with minimal disruption and no tools or DIY skills necessary. The payback period can be as low as 2 years.

Unlike other competitor secondary glazing systems, Gecko Glazing panes don’t obstruct the existing window. As they don’t damage windows in any way and are fully removable, they are particularly good for period properties and listed buildings.

Gareth Claase, Founder and CEO, Gecko Glazing, commented: “Rocketing fuel prices are plunging many households into fuel poverty, which highlights the need for easier, more affordable ways to reduce window heat loss. Our Gecko Panes provide provide an affordable and easy way to reduce heat loss and emissions from the UK’s poorly insultated housing stock. We aim to install Gecko Panes in thousands of homes per year, not just in the UK, but in key export markets too.”

He added: “We’re hugely excited to be working with British Design Fund and this investment will help us leap forward in terms of our production facilities and equipment, product development and business development strategies.”

Damon Bonser, CEO, British Design Fund (BDF), said: “We’re delighted to welcome Gecko Glazing to the BDF portfolio. The UK is currently facing its worst energy crisis in decades, as well as a climate emergency which has seen the country commit to achieving net zero emissions by 2050. Low cost solutions like this - which can significantly reduce energy costs while quickly improving the carbon footprint of inefficient homes – have never been more important.”

He continued: “From the very first time we met Gareth and his team, it was clear they understood the problem they were addressing and had designed a solution that their target audience would be able to afford, measure and install themselves. We could see strong sales traction from a very small marketing budget, with the team struggling to keep up with demand. One of the key areas our BDF mentors will be supporting the company with is scaling up production capacity whilst ramping up marketing.”

British Design Fund works with ambitious British product start-ups who are ready to scale-up and build thriving stand-out businesses. Alongside capital investment, BDF provides expert mentoring to support such companies to accelerate their growth plans.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Creative Leopard .