Construction firm Adaptavate raises £4m from EIC and Low Carbon Innovation Fund 3
This article covers Adaptavate, a construction startup, which has raised £4m in a growth funding round from the European Innovation Council and Innovate UK's Investor Partnerships Programme alongside equity from existing and new shareholders, and has opened a second close to the end of 2026 targeting an additional £1.3m. The funding aims to accelerate Adaptavate's commercial licensing of carbon-storing wallboard technology to manufacturers, supporting efforts to reduce embodied carbon in the construction materials sector.
Adaptavate has raised £4 million in a growth funding round from the European Innovation Council (EIC) and Innovate UK's Investor Partnerships Programme, alongside equity from existing and new shareholders including Low Carbon Innovation Fund 3. The raise, which moves the company from development into commercial deployment, will accelerate its licensing strategy for carbon-storing wallboard production; a second close is open until the end of 2026 with an additional target of £1.3 million.
Why it matters
The construction materials sector is a major source of embodied carbon, and solutions that can be adopted within existing supply chains are critical if low-carbon products are to reach industrial scale. Adaptavate’s approach—licensing carbon capture and utilisation and carbon capture and storage processes to existing manufacturers—aims to avoid the capital intensity and long timelines of building new plants. If the technology is taken up by large producers, it could shift how mainstream wallboard is made, potentially cutting lifecycle emissions across a widely used building product.
The funding also signals investor confidence in moving from pilots to commercial licensing. Adaptavate says it has already run pilot deployments with organisations including Legal & General and Oxygen Asset Management and raised its profile through a launch at The GEAR in Singapore.
Inside the product
Adaptavate licenses patented, scalable Carbon Capture and Utilisation (CCU) and Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) processes to manufacturers rather than producing wallboard itself. Its flagship product, Breathaboard, is a carbon-storing wallboard designed to be manufactured using existing equipment and supply chains. The technical goal is to enable established wallboard producers to switch to commercially competitive carbon-storing production without building new plants.
Since the first close, Adaptavate has signed a licence option agreement with an international production partner and reports growing engagement with other international manufacturing partners. The funding is earmarked to speed up commercial licensing and expand those manufacturing partnerships.
Who are the investors?
The £4 million consists of funding from public innovation bodies—the European Innovation Council (EIC) and Innovate UK's Investor Partnerships Programme—together with equity from existing and new shareholders, notably Low Carbon Innovation Fund 3. Adaptavate has opened a second close through to the end of 2026 targeting an additional £1.3 million.
The involvement of public innovation programmes indicates both technical de‑risking and an intent to leverage grant-style support alongside private capital to move toward commercial roll-out. Low Carbon Innovation Fund 3 is one of the named equity backers participating in this round.
In the announcement, Ian Thomas, Managing Director at Turquoise, said:
Decarbonisation of the built environment is a challenge but also a huge opportunity. The investment in Adaptavate matches LCIF3's mandate to back growth stage companies with proprietary technology that can deliver significant impact in key industries that urgently need to reduce their carbon footprint. The Adaptavate team has demonstrated its ability to develop and adapt the company's products to meet customer requirements and we look forward to working with them to bring these products to market at scale.
If you're researching potential backers in this space:
- Explore our list of construction venture capital firms in the UK
- Browse our directory of construction angel investors in the UK
Founder perspective
In the announcement, Tom Robinson, Founder & CEO at Adaptavate, said:
This is much more than a funding milestone. It reflects growing confidence in both our technology and our commercial strategy from investors, innovation bodies and industry partners. After years of technology development, validation and pilot manufacturing, we are now entering the next phase of our journey: working alongside manufacturers to deploy commercially competitive carbon-storing technologies at industrial scale. The wallboard industry doesn't simply need lower-carbon products; it needs commercially viable manufacturing solutions that existing producers can adopt and scale. This funding places us in a strong position to deliver exactly that.
The bigger picture
Adaptavate’s model addresses a common barrier to decarbonising construction materials: the reluctance of incumbent manufacturers to overhaul plant and process. Licensing CCU and CCS processes for installation in existing factories could reduce that barrier and shorten time to market for low-carbon products. Demonstrations with insurers or asset managers such as Legal & General and pilots with owners including Oxygen Asset Management may help build commercial demand and procurement pathways.
International engagement, including the launch at The GEAR in Singapore and a licence option with an overseas production partner, shows the company is pursuing export and global manufacturing routes as part of its scaling strategy. For the UK and Europe, the development fits broader policy goals around embodied carbon reduction and industrial decarbonisation, where a mix of public innovation funding and private capital is increasingly common.
This funding round illustrates how public innovation programmes and targeted equity can combine to move construction-focused startups from lab and pilot phases toward deployment within existing industrial systems—an approach that could be replicated across other material-heavy sectors in the UK and Europe.
They've invested in Adaptavate
Get to know these construction investors
| Investors | Investment Focus | Startup Investments | Round Size | Connect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Innovate UK's Investor Partnerships Programme( ) | Construction | |||
 Low Carbon Innovation Fund 3( ) | Construction | |||
| All investors | All investor sectors | All funded startups | All funding rounds |
Click here for a full list of 7,589+ startup investors in the UK