Oxford-based Caudal Energy lands €4.9 million to develop predictable renewable power from tidal flow

Caudal Energy, an Oxford-based baseload energy company developing a new class of predictable renewable power systems, has raised €4.9 million (£4.3 million) in funding.

The round was led by Oxford Science Enterprises (OSE) and Empirical Ventures, with participation from others, including existing investors Zero Carbon Capital and Creator Fund.

John Kennedy, CEO of Caudal Energy, said, “The future energy system needs renewable power that is not only clean, but dependable and built to scale. We founded Caudal to challenge the assumption that tidal energy has to remain complex, costly and niche.

“Our approach combines smarter hydrodynamic design with modular deployment architecture to create a system designed for real-world performance. By unlocking the potential of mid-flow tidal sites, we believe Caudal can dramatically expand where tidal energy can be deployed and how commercially competitive it can become. This funding enables us to demonstrate the technology at commercially relevant scale and accelerate our path toward delivering predictable renewable power as a meaningful part of the future energy mix.”

Caudal Energy was founded in 2024 as Porpoise Power by Professor Adrian Thomas, Hilary Struthers, and John Kennedy. It is a spin-off from the University of Oxford. It was born from the hydrodynamic research conducted by Professor Thomas at the University of Oxford.

Caudal Energy emphasised that tidal energy should play a vital role in the future energy mix. “Water is over 800 times denser than air, making tidal flow one of the most energy-dense renewable resources available. Unlike wind and solar, it is fully forecastable years in advance, enabling stable generation that can strengthen energy security and reduce grid balancing costs,” the company explained. 

But, it states that traditional tidal technologies have remained complex, costly and limited to a small number of extremely high-flow sites. Caudal Energy asserts that it addresses this issue. 

The company claims to be rethinking how tidal energy is generated from first principles. Inspired by the efficiency of the tail or caudal fins of marine mammals, the company states that its proprietary oscillating foil system works with tidal flows rather than against them, enabling a simpler, smarter and more commercially scalable approach to marine energy generation.

According to the company, its fin-based system is designed to work efficiently across a wide range of tidal flows and converts energy through hydrodynamic lift and motion rather than traditional turbine rotation. This results in a simpler, more effective system engineered to operate in flow speeds of 3 knots and above, with lower complexity and broader deployment potential.

“Traditional tidal systems are limited to a small number of extreme high-flow sites. Caudal Energy changes the economics. By operating efficiently in abundant mid-flow locations, we unlock 10x as many sites, being closer to customers and taking potential UK resource from 11GW to 60GW. Combined with modular deployment and lower-cost operations, this creates the potential for tidal energy to scale from niche technology to commercially competitive renewable infrastructure,” the company mentioned in the press release. 

With this capital, the company plans to expand its engineering and modelling capabilities, advance demonstration and deployment activities, and accelerate commercial partnerships across utility, industrial and distributed energy markets. Caudal Energy is progressing development and deployment discussions with a range of strategic partners as it moves towards commercial-scale demonstration.

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