Hugo Spowers made his name as a builder of racing cars in the UK in the 1980s. He set up the company Prowess Racing and spent 15 years designing, building, driving and restoring racing cars. The motor racing industry is one in which projects develop fast and success comes through systems integration rather than development of new technologies. Hugo learned to design and build cars in months ready for the following season.

He left the racing industry because of his worries about its environmental impact, but was drawn back into the motoring world when he learnt about the possibilities of hydrogen. His MBA at Cranfield University examined the feasibility of hydrogen fuel cell powered cars. In 2003 he teamed up with Morgan Cars, Oxford University, Cranfield Institute of Technology, the DTI, BOC and Qinitiq to produce the research project LIFECar.

From that experiment and with investment from the family of Ernst Piech, a member of the Porsche family, and a grant from the BOC Foundation, he went on to develop the Riversimple urban car in conjunction with Oxford University and Cranfield University.