Member Article

£8m boost for Wilton firm

A Teesside firm which is developing the latest biopolymers technology has had a £8m boost.

Plaxica, which employs 20 people at the 75-acre Wilton Centre, has raised significant additional finance from its existing main investors, Imperial Innovations, Invesco Perpetual and NESTA.

A technology and licensing company focused on the production of next generation biopolymers and platform chemicals from renewable resources, Plaxica is targeting the rapidly growing global polylactic acid (PLA) market that is expected to reach $1 billion by 2016.

Plaxica’s technology enables the manufacture of a range of high-performance polylactic acid (PLA) polymers and intermediates that can be used in applications as diverse as packaging, electronic goods, automotive parts and textiles.

Its innovative process is attracting significant interest from a range of industry sectors in both the US and Asia as it offers improved properties and a reduced cost of production compared with PLA polymers already on the market.

It also represents a sustainable alternative to current oil-based materials as they are bio-based, fully recyclable and have a smaller environmental footprint.

Plaxica’s pilot plant at Wilton Centre currently demonstrates the core part of Plaxica’s process to modify lactic acid to enable it to be converted into a high performance plastic.

The additional funding will allow the company to construct its second demonstration plant which will showcase technology for the production of low cost lactic acid from renewable sources.

Philip Goodier, CEO of Plaxica, said: “Since our Series B financing in 2011, Plaxica has made significant progress. We have built and are now successfully operating the demonstration plant for our Optipure technology.

“In addition, we have advanced our transformational low-cost lactic acid technology to the point where we are on the verge of building a second demonstration plant for this process.”

Wilton Centre site director Steve Duffield said that the level of Plaxica’s new investment was a great example of what can be achieved when innovation and entrepreneurship are successfully combined.

He added: “This is a very impressive deal that not only reflects the scale of Plaxica’s potential commercial success but also recognises the uniqueness of what the company is doing and the boundaries it is breaking in its specialist field.”

Plaxica’s current funding deal consists of a commitment from a leading technology commercialisation and investment group, Imperial Innovations, of close to £3.9m, alongside existing investors Invesco Perpetual and NESTA Investments who contributed £3.9m and £0.25m respectively.

To date, the company has raised approximately £10m from investors; Innovations will hold a 35 per cent stake upon completion of the £8m investment.

Plaxica was founded in 2008, built on work carried out in the laboratories of Professor Vernon Gibson and Dr Edward Marshall at Imperial College London.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Martin Walker .