Investment case, cost basis 8 September 2026
A hardware company with a costed bill of materials and a falsifiable pilot
Every figure on this page is derived from the same engineering cost model as the build plan: named UK suppliers, line-by-line materials, hours at a stated rate, batch learning curves and the one-off tooling and compliance any batch would need anyway. Nothing here is a round number chosen for a deck.
No unit has been manufactured and no pilot is live. Costs are modelled from published UK trade pricing; pilot results are produced by the AiR simulation model so an investor can see the exact reporting shape before capital is committed.
Round sought
GBP 0
Use of funds itemised below
First article set
GBP 0
One MAX, one HOME, one PORTABLE, 8 weeks
MAX at one hundred units
GBP 0
Indicative price GBP 22,090 at 42% gross margin
Pilot tyres checked, modelled
0
10.8% of charge dwell converted
Unit economics
Cost falls with the batch, and the gap is the business
Materials discount and labour learning are modelled at ten and one hundred units. Indicative price holds a 42 percent gross margin against the hundred-unit cost.
AiR MAX STATION
AIR-MAX-01 - Forecourt, charging hub, dealership and depot
The full four-hose station: silent duplex oil-free air system, four independently metered channels on retractable reels reaching every corner of anything from a motorcycle to a long-wheelbase flatbed van, a 27-inch outdoor-readable screen, edge compute for on-unit inference and a stainless and powder-coated steel enclosure rated for unattended outdoor use.
AiR HOME MINI
AIR-HOME-01 - Wall-mounted garage, driveway and private estate
The wall-mounted unit: a single silent oil-free compressor, one long retractable hose with a four-corner guided workflow on a 10-inch screen, the same pressure profile logic and app record as MAX, in an IP54 wall enclosure sized for a domestic garage.
AiR PORTABLE
AIR-PORT-01 - Boot, patrol vehicle, event and dealer handover
The carried unit: a rechargeable battery compressor with the same pressure profile logic, a 5-inch screen, a 1.2 m coiled hose and app-linked records. Designed to be built at volume for a low unit cost, and to be the cheapest way to put AiR logic in a customer's hands.
Use of funds
What the round buys, line by line
Each line maps to a costed item in the engineering model or to the pilot agreement already drafted with the charging operators.
| Line | Amount | Share | What it covers |
|---|---|---|---|
| First-article build, one MAX, one HOME, one PORTABLE | GBP 13,500 | 7% | Hardware, labour and test to a signed-off first article of each machine |
| Tooling, jigs and calibration reference | GBP 15,500 | 8% | Sheet-metal tooling, harness jig and a UKAS-traceable calibration fixture |
| Compliance and type approval | GBP 15,000 | 8% | EMC, electrical safety and IP testing across the range, once per design freeze |
| Pilot fleet, five MAX STATIONS | GBP 27,000 | 14% | Batch-of-ten costing, installed, insured and maintained by AiR at host cost nil |
| Install, service and pilot operations, twelve weeks | GBP 22,000 | 11% | Certified electrical install, commissioning, calibration at week zero and week twelve |
| Platform and edge software | GBP 46,000 | 23% | Edge inference, telemetry, host and operator consoles, driver app |
| Assembly space and fit-out, twelve months | GBP 31,000 | 16% | Lease, benches, air supply and test rig |
| Working capital and contingency | GBP 30,000 | 15% | Component lead-time cover and programme contingency |
| Total round | GBP 200,000 | 100% | Eighteen months of runway to a decided estate rollout |
Programme
One of each, built and signed off, in eight weeks from purchase order
MAX is the critical path at eight weeks; HOME and PORTABLE build inside that window using the same team and the same test fixtures. The programme cost below is the first-article set plus the tooling and compliance that any batch would need anyway.
One-off tooling and compliance
How to read every number here
- All figures exclude VAT and inbound carriage unless stated, and assume UK build at AiR's own facility.
- Prices are modelled from published UK trade pricing, not supplier quotations. Formal RFQ replaces every line before commitment.
- Labour is costed at GBP 42 per hour for build and test, and GBP 58 per hour for electrical and certification work.
- Prototype quantities carry no tooling amortisation. Batch pricing assumes sheet-metal tooling and a wiring-harness jig are already paid for.
- The silent air system is the single largest cost driver on MAX and the main reason for UK sourcing over the cheapest global option.
Proof plan
The pilot that decides whether this scales
Five hypotheses, each with a pre-agreed threshold and a stated failure condition, run across three to five ultra-rapid hubs plus a matched control for twelve weeks. Host capital outlay is nil.
Weeks 1 to 4
Build and consentFirst-article MAX signed off, host safety induction, landlord consent and certified electrical install designed per site.
Weeks 5 to 6
CommissionInstall, calibrate against the UKAS-traceable reference, one week soft launch on each hub before measurement starts.
Weeks 7 to 18
Twelve weeks liveSeven-metric scorecard per site per week, control hub read alongside, availability floor 97 percent, remote stop within one hour.
Week 19
One decisionExtend to a paid estate rollout, extend to a second cohort, or stop at no cost to the host. A failed hypothesis is published as a failure.
Charge dwell converted
10.8%
Tyres corrected
26.4%
Energy avoided, modelled
563.9 kWh
Repeat use, weeks 9 to 12
32.5%
The pilot plan and results
Hypotheses, scorecard definitions, safety gates and the per-site reporting surface.
OpenThe machine twins
Operate the MAX STATION twin and see the platform from five user types.
Open