Rookwood Operations Raises £800k to Turn River Pollution into Agricultural Fertiliser

Somerset-based cleantech startup Rookwood Operations has raised £800,000 to scale its technology for removing phosphate pollution from waterways and recovering it for use in agriculture.

The funding includes a £550,000 equity investment from the British Business Bank's South West Investment Fund, delivered through The FSE Group, alongside investment from Sustainable Ventures and private investors.

The company has also secured a separate £700,000 grant from Innovate UK. Founded in 2022 and based near Wells, Rookwood is developing a commercial solution to two connected problems facing the UK: declining water quality and dependence on imported fertiliser.

Turning an environmental problem into a commercial opportunity

Phosphate is an essential nutrient for agriculture, but excessive amounts entering rivers and lakes can damage aquatic ecosystems and contribute to poor water quality.

At the same time, farmers depend on phosphate-based fertilisers to maintain crop production. Much of the supply comes from mined resources, leaving agriculture exposed to international supply chains and price fluctuations.

Rookwood's technology aims to connect these two challenges. Its nature-based system captures phosphate from polluted water and recovers the nutrient so it can be returned to agricultural soils.

Rather than treating extracted phosphate purely as waste, the company sees it as a valuable resource that can be reused.

This approach could create commercial opportunities for water companies, landowners and environmental organisations looking for practical ways to meet increasingly demanding environmental requirements.

Rookwood is already working with organisations including Bristol Water and Yorkshire Dales National Park.

Preparing to scale

The investment will help Rookwood strengthen its commercial operations, increase production capacity and expand deployments across more customer sites.

The company is entering a market with significant regulatory drivers. The water industry is facing growing pressure to reduce phosphorus pollution, with Ofwat approving £4.9 billion of phosphorus removal investment for the 2025–2030 period.

This creates an opportunity for specialist technology providers offering alternatives to conventional treatment methods.

Rookwood's chief executive, Jane Pearce, believes water quality, farming and economic growth are closely connected. The company's goal is to remove phosphate from places where it causes environmental damage and return it to places where it has agricultural value.

Why this funding matters

Rookwood's funding round highlights the commercial potential of the circular economy, where businesses recover and reuse resources rather than relying entirely on new raw materials.

For founders, it is an example of how an environmental challenge can become a viable business opportunity when the solution addresses the needs of multiple industries.

It also shows that early-stage climate businesses can attract a combination of private investment and public funding when they demonstrate both commercial potential and measurable environmental benefits.

The next challenge is proving that the technology can be deployed reliably and economically at a larger scale. If Rookwood succeeds, its approach could become part of a wider shift towards recovering valuable resources from industrial and environmental waste.

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Discussion question: Could turning environmental waste into valuable products become a major business opportunity for UK startups, particularly in agriculture and manufacturing?