TIDMIVO
RNS Number : 4306A
Imperial Innovations Group plc
08 October 2009
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8 October 2009
Imperial Innovations Group plc
Further investment in Plaxica's sustainable plastics
Imperial Innovations Group plc (AIM: IVO, "Imperial Innovations", "the Group"),
a leading technology commercialisation and investment company, has increased its
investment in Plaxica, leading a GBP1m funding round supported by Carbon Trust
Investments Limited and the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the
Arts (NESTA).
The investment will help Plaxica's continued development of new and more
energy-efficient ways to create high-quality biodegradable plastics from
renewable sources with a wide variety of applications.
Imperial Innovations invested GBP400,000 of the new funds with the rest of the
investment coming from Carbon Trust Investments Limited and NESTA. Imperial
Innovations previously helped founder scientists Prof. Vernon Gibson and Dr Ed
Marshall from Imperial College London and John Hamlin, Imperial Innovations
Entrepreneur in Residence, launch Plaxica in 2008, and provided seed funding of
GBP250,000 prior to this round. In May 2009, Plaxica moved into the Imperial
Innovations incubator. Imperial Innovations also helped Plaxica attract a
GBP330,000 grant from the Technology Strategy Board and additional investment
from the Carbon Trust and NESTA.
Susan Searle, CEO of Imperial Innovations, joined the Board of Plaxica in
February 2009. Philip Holbeche, (ex-founding Chairman of Ceres Power who led
that business through its IPO and landmark deal with Centrica) was appointed
Chairman and John Hamlin (ex-BP Chemicals who was General Manager of the
Performance Chemicals business which supplied materials to the plastics
industry) Chief Executive earlier this year, both of whom have had previous
associations with the Group.
Plaxica's goal is to develop the technology to make a sustainable polymer at a
cost, and with the properties, that can directly compete with high volume
plastics made from fossil oils. Plaxica's technology uses renewable feedstocks
to produce a biodegradable polymer known as polylactic acid (PLA). The GBP1m
investment will allow Plaxica to develop a less expensive, more energy-efficient
(less CO2 intensive) PLA production process that also produces a stronger,
higher-quality polymer that can be used in applications as diverse as packaging,
textiles, housings and automobile parts.
Susan Searle, CEO of Imperial Innovations, said:
"Existing plastics are no longer sustainable because of the oil they use and
the waste they leave. This investment will help Plaxica develop a low-cost and
environmentally friendly alternative for a wide range of industrial and consumer
applications."
Enquiries:
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| Imperial Innovations | |
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| Susan Searle, Chief Executive Officer | Tel. 020 7594 6589 |
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| Diana Crisp, PR Manager | |
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| | |
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| College Hill | Tel. 020 7457 2020 |
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| Adrian Duffield / Tony Stephenson | |
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| | |
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| J.P. Morgan Cazenove (NOMAD to Imperial | Tel. 020 7588 2828 |
| Innovations) | |
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| Steve Baldwin | |
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Note to Editors
Imperial Innovations is one of the UK's leading technology commercialisation and
investment companies. Founded in 1986 and admitted to the AIM Market of the
London Stock Exchange in 2006, Imperial Innovations' access to early stage
technology and intellectual property is unparalleled.
Imperial Innovations' integrated commercialisation approach encompasses the
identification of ideas, the protection of intellectual property, the
development and licensing of technology and the formation, incubation and
funding, through investment, of technology businesses.
Based at Imperial College London, Imperial Innovations' portfolio of equity
holdings in more than 80 companies spans its three core areas of Healthcare,
Engineering & IT, and Energy & Environment.
Companies in the portfolio of Imperial Innovations include: Circassia (allergy
therapeutics), Evo Electric (electric motor and generator solutions), Nexeon
(lithium ion battery technology), Polytherics (drug development), Quantasol
(solar concentrators) and Respivert (respiratory drug development).
Imperial Innovations has already realised significant value from its investments
to date including from a recent trade sale in December 2008 when Thiakis
Limited, a company in which Imperial Innovations had a 23.7% stake, was sold for
up to GBP100 million to US-based Wyeth Pharmaceuticals. More recent trade sales
include certain Heliswirl IP to Technip and InforSense to IDBS.
www.imperialinnovations.co.uk
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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