Oxford Photovoltaics (Oxford PV) has announced the appointment of David Smyth as its Chief Financial Officer. David joins Oxford PV’s senior management team and will play an integral role in raising the next tranche of funding required to commercialise Oxford PV’s solar technology.

Formed in 2010, Oxford PV is a spin-out from Oxford University that has exclusively licensed and is developing a photovoltaic technology, which has the potential to deliver low cost, efficient solar cells that can be applied as a thin film onto glass building facades.

Based at Begbroke Science Park, Oxford PV’s objective is to deliver a massively scalable product for the Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) market and other solar energy sectors such as Utility and Automotive. The company has already raised £7m in equity and grant funding and has made major progress, with its perovskite-based solar cells achieving impressive levels of efficiency.

David brings significant experience to Oxford PV having raised more than £4bn in multiple fund raising exercises including two IPOs. One of the first employees of Orange, David joined the mobile network operator ahead of its launch in 1994 and played a major role in the company’s strategy, success and rapid growth into an international telecommunications group with a £25bn market cap, becoming Group Director of Strategic Planning and Investor Relations. Since leaving Orange ten years ago, David has had a number of pivotal leadership roles, most recently with the Cambridge-based tech company Neul Limited where, as Chief Financial Officer, he drove the firm’s change from an academically-driven technology start-up into a commercial and operational business.

Company co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Oxford PV, Kevin Arthur said: “I am delighted to have someone of David’s calibre working alongside me in this exciting phase of Oxford PV’s development. We’re making rapid progress towards commercialisation and expect to sign the first licensing deal with a glass manufacturer during 2015. As efficiencies continue to rise, we’re looking at utility applications alongside the building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) market and this could radically accelerate our growth. David will be vital in securing the funding we’ll need to achieve this.

David Smyth said: “This is an exciting time to be joining Oxford PV. There is enormous potential for this new technology and I am delighted to have joined Kevin and his team to help commercialise the technology and deliver the potential”

Oxford Photovoltaics (Oxford PV) has also announced the appointment of Dr Chris Case as Chief Technology Officer to lead the technological development of the business, which is making rapid progress towards the commercialisation of its ground-breaking thin-film solar cells.