£5m funding boost for innovative construction business tackling UK housing crisis
An industrialised construction company which has developed innovative technology to build homes from recycled glass panels has secured more than £5m in funding to help it tackle the UK’s housing crisis.
VASO Global is a world-leading housebuilding innovator which takes waste glass and converts it into high‑performance structural composite panels capable of delivering rapid, low‑carbon, modular homes and buildings.
The company combines digital design, integrated manufacture and semi-autonomous construction, to provide affordable, thermally efficient, low-carbon homes which are swift to construct, enabling it to respond to the UK’s need to build more homes more quickly.
VASO Global, based in Dumfries, has secured £1.4m seed investment from PXN Ventures along with £621k from Scottish Enterprise. The company has also secured a £2m loan approved by Innovate UK Loans Limited, a division of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), and £800k from ECO GROUP which will be the delivery partner for the initial VASO Global build projects.
VASO by Eco had previously secured £330k from South of Scotland Enterprise (SOSE) to advance the commercial roll-out of its innovative recycled-glass building technology.
The latest funding will enable VASO Global to develop manufacturing processes at its new 60,000-square-feet manufacturing site in Dumfries, creating up to 70 jobs within the next five years, with the plant adopting industrialised construction methods.
The funding will also help VASO Global find strategic routes to market over the next two years and plan for future investment.
The company’s innovation has been widely heralded as a potential solution to the UK and Scottish housing crisis, following the Scottish government’s declaration of a national housing emergency in 2024.
The wider impact of the investment will also strengthen the circular economy in the South of Scotland, turning waste materials into high‑value products while supporting regional innovation, boosting manufacturing capability and delivering new jobs and skills opportunities in a predominantly rural area.
Eddie Black, VASO global co-founder and managing director, said: “We want to thank all those who have seen the potential in our technology. The latest investment from PXN Ventures and Scottish Enterprise, along with all our other funders, accelerates our journey to deliver a product which can genuinely reshape how homes are delivered – cleaner, faster and with far less waste.
“We would like to also thank Professor Sean Smith at the University of Edinburgh for his reports and expert support, funded by the UKRI Centre for Net Zero High Density Buildings, which has helped underpin VASO’s plans and products to reach this stage of our development.”
Tom Croy, PXN Ventures investment director, said: “At PXN we back companies solving real problems, and the UK’s housing shortage is about as real as they get, which is why we’re proud to back Eddie and the team as they scale a genuinely sustainable way to build not just houses but other essential buildings. On top of supporting local jobs and opportunities, VASO Global’s recycled composite panels enable builders to build far faster than traditional methods, with the company expecting to cut construction time from 33 weeks to 10 on an upcoming project in Scotland.”
Derek Shaw, Scottish Enterprise director of entrepreneurship and investment, said: “Our investment support is focused on helping Scotland’s most innovative and ambitious companies to grow and scale, creating impactful economic change in regions across Scotland. VASO Global is a fantastic example of this, with its manufacturing approach having the potential to transform how low-carbon homes are delivered at pace and scale, while creating job opportunities and strengthening the South of Scotland’s manufacturing capability.”
Scott O’Brien, Innovate UK chief investment officer, said: “When Innovate UK launched its Prospectus in March 2025, its ambition was to foster future industry giants with the ambition to scale through their cutting-edge technologies.
“VASO delivers advanced materials that support clean energy goals and sustainable housing. Innovate UK’s £2m innovation loan will deliver the technical and commercial maturity that will accelerate their growth.”
Professor Russel Griggs, SOSE chair, said: “SOSE is committed to supporting innovation and tackling our foundational challenges, including housing. Supporting the early commercialisation and production of VASO’s technology allows us to do both. To unlock the South of Scotland’s full economic potential, we need to address these challenges. The region is innovative and a significant untapped source of future growth.”
Gary Robertson, Eco Group opportunity strategist, said: “Sustainable, affordable housing is not just a social good—it is the foundation of economic resilience. Providing thermally efficient, healthy homes supports a stable workforce, improves productivity, reduces public costs, and unlocks long-term, inclusive growth.
“The South of Scotland isn’t always the first area on people’s minds when it comes to world-first innovation and manufacturing methods. But we have some brilliant organisations and business minds in this region, and this investment will help provide valuable skills, training and job opportunities to help boost the region’s economy.”
Tom Croy (PXN Ventures) alongside Graham McDonald, Eddie Black and Simon Parrish (VASO Global). June 2026. Photographed by Ditte Solgaard Dunn, First Light Photography
VASO Global building solutions are already being explored for community‑led housing projects in the South of Scotland and form part of wider collaborations with universities, architects and housing bodies, aimed at enabling Scotland to scale industrialised construction at speed.
The latest funding announcement comes on the back of VASO Global making two senior appointments to its board. Graham McDonald, a versatile and commercially driven business leader with extensive Board level experience, has joined VASO Global as chairman. Douglas Morrison, Deputy CEO of Built Environment – Smarter Transformation (BE-ST) whose mission is to accelerate Scotland’s transition to a zero carbon built environment and construction sector, has joined VASO Global in a non-remunerated Strategic Advisor role.