Oxford: YASA gains £15m in growth funding as production ramps up

YASA, the world’s leading manufacturer of axial-flux electric motors and controllers, has announced raising £15 million in growth funding. Universal Partners joins Parkwalk Advisors and other existing investors in the round, bringing the total raised by the company to £35m.

This £15 million investment follows Oxford-based YASA’s signing of long-term development and supply agreements with customers in the automotive sector. The company has recently opened a new 100,000-unit capacity production facility in Oxford to meet the growing demand for its products. 80% of YASA’s production is destined for export to automotive manufacturers across the world, including China.  

The new production facility will be officially opened on February 1 by secretary of state for business, energy and industrial strategy Greg Clark MP. A range of YASA-powered vehicles will be on display at the event, including cars from Nissan, Jaguar Land Rover and Williams Advanced Engineering.  

Clark said: “YASA is a brilliant example of what can be achieved when government, academia and industry come together to turn the best ideas from the best minds into scale-up companies.”

YASA’s innovative axial-flux electric motor design offers best-in-class power and torque densities and is ideally suited to both hybrid and pure electric vehicle applications. With YASA’s technology, automotive manufacturers have greater design flexibility to improve vehicle performance whilst reducing vehicle weight.

YASA motors and controllers enable automotive manufacturers to meet increasingly stringent emissions targets while delivering exciting driving experiences. In addition to automotive, YASA motors are used in marine applications and in aerospace where high power density and torque density are critical. 

Dr Chris Harris, YASA CEO, said: “Our customers are looking to adopt innovative new technologies such as YASA’s axial-flux electric motors and controllers in order to meet the needs of the rapidly expanding hybrid and pure electric automotive market.  This additional £15 million in growth funding will enable YASA to further invest in the volume production capacity necessary to meet our customers’ requirements, and to address markets beyond automotive including aerospace and marine.”

Andrew Birrell of Universal Partners - who joins YASA’s board - said: “YASA has unique and highly differentiated axial-flux motor technology that offers clear advantages in terms of power and torque density compared to their competition in class.  We are pleased to have the opportunity to invest and are very excited by the prospects for the Company.” 

Alastair Kilgour, chief investment officer at Parkwalk Advisors, said: “YASA has made excellent commercial progress over the past two years and we are pleased to continue to support the Company in this latest financing round. With the rapid growth of electrification in automotive and other sectors such as aerospace and marine, we believe YASA has huge business potential.”