TWO Cheshire technology firms look set to defy the credit crunch after winning millions of pounds of funding from international investors.

Runcorn-based fuel cell business Acal Energy has secured £3.6m in funding from a syndicate including Honda, pharmaceuticals group Solvay and northern venture capital fund Enterprise Ventures (EV).

Meanwhile Daresbury-based Medalytix has secured £2m of backing with EV and new invest-ors including Corporación Empresarial ONCE, the business and venture arm of the Spanish National Organisation for the Blind.

Both firms were founded by Preston-based EV, which aims to help high-tech firms grow rapidly and reach international markets. EV worked with both companies to help them secure their latest investment.

Acal, based at The Heath in Runcorn, was founded in 2004 with a £50,000 investment from EV’s RisingStars Growth Fund. The company will use its latest investment to continue developing new environmentally -friendly fuel cell technology.

Medalytix will use its new investment to develop the international sales and marketing of its iGrading product, which detects diabetic eye disease.

EV chief executive Jonathan Diggines said: “At this difficult time, it is crucially important to maintain support for developing new technology. EV is not chasing quick returns, or pursuing exercises in financial engineering – the cause of so many problems in our economy just now.”

The fund’s head of technology investment, Julian Viggars, said: “Both fundraisings reflected an increase in the value of the fund’s investment and, critically, will enable the companies to continue their work in 2009, making technical and commer-cial progress unhindered by funding constraints.

“Many technology companies show early growth, then wither on the vine due to lack of support. Both these businesses will now continue to grow.”

alistairhoughton