StirLight secures £1.25 million to scale platform

A Derbyshire-based advanced manufacturing start-up is set for growth after securing fresh funding to scale cutting-edge industrial technology.

StirLight has raised £1.25 million from investors including Haatch Ventures, the British Business Bank, D2N2 and angel backers, alongside grant funding from Innovate UK and the Aerospace Technology Institute, to support the commercialisation of its proprietary StirSense platform.

Founded in 2024 and based in Chesterfield, the company is developing technology to improve quality assurance in friction stir welding (FTW), a process widely used across aerospace, automotive, defence and energy sectors.

StirSense is designed to provide real-time monitoring and analysis during production, addressing a long-standing industry challenge of verifying weld quality without relying on time-consuming post-process inspections.

Bosses say the funding will enable pilot deployments with industrial partners, further development of its platform and the creation of highly skilled engineering and data roles.

Toby Savage-Yu, chief executive of StirLight, said: “FSW produces some of the best joints in the world. 

“The problem has always been proving it at scale, and that is what StirSense solves.

“We are delighted by the support from Innovate UK, ATI, and our pre-seed investors who moved quickly to back this critical technology. 

“We have been building this company over the last two years and the team’s work to get us here has been exceptional. 

“We are looking forward to putting this funding to work and showing what UK manufacturing innovation can deliver.”

Jeroen De Backer, chief technology officer of StirLight, added: “FSW inherently produces high-value, multi-sensor data streams. 

“The missing piece has been the capability to fuse and interpret that data in real time. StirSense closes that gap, enabling in-process quality verification, fundamentally changing how weld integrity is assured.”

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