CHELMSFORD, MA, FRX Polymers announced today that it has closed its Series C financing for $12 million. The round of financing was led by Evonik Venture Capital.
FRX Polymers Inc. ('FRX' or the 'Company') announced today that it has closed its Series C financing for $12 million. The round of financing was led by Evonik Venture Capital GMBH, a wholly owned subsidiary of Evonik Industries AG. Joining Evonik are FRX's current shareholders, Capricorn Venture Partners, DB Masdar Cleantech Fund, SAM Private Equity, BASF Venture Capital, Israel Cleantech Ventures, Triton Systems and many of the company's founders, its Western Canadian Syndicate and its employees. The closing coincides with the opening of FRX's first industrial scale Green flame retardant polymer plant in Antwerp Belgium. The financial resources will be used to fund the company's sales ramp of this new to the world plant.
FRX is the manufacturer and marketer of a new, environmentally friendly family of inherently flame retardant plastics and oligomers, trade named Nofia®. Currently in the high growth phase of commercializing its unique family of polyphosphonate homopolymers, copolymers, and oligomers, FRX produces plastics that are tough, transparent, and possess high melt flow. FRX's products are being sold in consumer electronic, building and construction, and transportation markets, as polymeric flame retardant additives, flame retardant engineering plastics, and as reactive flame retardant additives for thermosetting resins.
FRX's portfolio includes an extensive and growing patent estate. To date, the company has 43 granted patents and 96 patent applications. FRX was the 2008 and 2013 recipient of Frost and Sullivan's 'Innovation of the Year' award for flame retardant materials. FRX was featured on CNN Money in 2012 and in 2013 was named to Global Cleantech's list of top 100 companies and made Going Green's global top 200 list of companies. In addition, the company won the Flanders Investment of the Year Award in 2013.
Dr. Bernhard Mohr, Managing Director for Evonik Venture Capital said, 'We are delighted to have become investors in FRX. This is an exciting company with a unique product offering that has come a very long way and is strategically well positioned to carve out an important market share in the years to come.'
Dr. Jos Peeters, Managing Partner of Capricorn Venture Partner 'It was just over 1 year ago that we broke ground on FRX's first commercial plant in Antwerp Belgium and today stands an impressive new facility which started up last month, a great accomplishment for this young growth company. As FRX's largest shareholder, we are very happy to have played an important role in attracting FRX to Flanders and today starts the accelerated growth phase in the company's development'.
'We joined FRX during its series B and have witnessed first-hand the commitment and drive of its management team and employees. The start-up of the company's new plant in Antwerp is an important milestone and marks the beginning of an exciting growth phase for the company' said Mr. Erik Martel, Partner at DB Masdar Cleantech Fund.
'We are delighted to welcome our new investor, Evonik Venture Capital, and are grateful for the continued commitment and support from our existing investors, Capricorn Cleantech Fund, DB Masdar Fund, SAM Private Equity, Israel Cleantech Fund, BASF Ventures and indeed our founders, business angels and employees.' said Marc Lebel, President and CEO of FRX Polymers. 'In Evonik, we have added an important strategic partner who shares the same vision as we do for the growth of the company. We are fortunate to have such a strong group of investors who believe in our company and its ability to carve out an important position in the exciting market that we compete in. We are especially thankful to all the early investors including Triton Systems, Capricorn Venture Partners, Israel Cleantech Ventures, our business angels and employees who continue to strongly support our mission'
About FRX Polymers
FRX Polymers, Inc. was founded in 2007 following over five years of intensive research and development in the field of inherently flame retardant plastics. The company operates two pilot plants in Chelmsford MA, a polymer pilot plant in Switzerland and a full scale plant in Antwerp Belgium. FRX is in the growth phase of its evolution and is commercializing a novel family of non-halogen, transparent, high melt flowing, fire resistant plastics. FRX Polymers is headquartered in Chelmsford MA. For more information about its products, visit their website at
www.frxpolymers.com.
About Evonik Venture Capital
Evonik Venture Capital GmbH, the venture capital group of Evonik Industries AG plans to invest a total of €100 million in highly promising start-ups with break-through technologies and leading specialist venture capital funds. These investments will focus on Europe, the U.S. and Asia. Partnering with innovative start-up companies supplements Evonik's approach of open innovation and creates excellent opportunities for accelerating the development of new businesses and opening up future growth fields. For more information visit their website at www.evonik.com/venturing.
About Capricorn Venture Partners
Capricorn Venture Partners is a pan-European manager of venture capital funds seeking to invest in technology-based growth companies. Capricorn is investing out of its Capricorn Cleantech Fund , its Capricorn Health-tech Fund and is managing Quest for Growth, a cross-over fund quoted on EuroNext Brussels and advising the Luxembourg based Quest Cleantech Sicav. The Capricorn Cleantech Fund invests in European growth companies developing innovative breakthrough technologies in the fields of renewable energy and energy efficiency, water purification and re-use, bio-based material conversion and bio-refinery platforms, clean air, climate change, green chemistry and advanced materials, materials recovery and recycling. The investment team of Capricorn is composed of experienced investment managers with deep technology expertise and a broad industrial experience. The Capricorn Cleantech Fund benefits from an investment by the European Investment Fund through the 'Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Program' of the European Union. For more information visit their website at www.capricorn.be.
About DB Masdar Clean Tech Fund, L.P.
DB Masdar Clean Tech Fund, L.P. is co-managed by Masdar Capital, the private equity and venture capital arm of the Abu Dhabi based Masdar Initiative, and DB Climate Change Advisors, a unit of Deutsche Bank's Asset Management division. The DB Masdar Clean Tech Fund seeks to build a diversified private equity portfolio that includes some of the world's most promising and pioneering clean tech and renewable energy companies. For more information, please visit www.masdar.ae and www.db.com.
About Israel Cleantech Ventures
Established in 2006, Israel Cleantech Ventures (ICV) is the largest venture capital firm dedicated to providing value added growth capital to exceptional entrepreneurs building Israel's leading energy, water and environmental companies. The firm has over $130M under management to date in two funds and has completed 13 investments across diverse cleantech sectors, including clean materials, waste water treatment, alternative energy generation, energy storage & efficiency, green building, smart grid and in technologies that enable existing industries to work in a more efficient and environmentally friendly manner. ICV funds are backed by leading institutional investors and notable family offices in Europe, the US and Israel. For more information please visit www.israelcleantech.com.
About SAM Private Equity
SAM is an investment boutique focused exclusively on Sustainability Investing. The firm's offering comprises asset management, indexes and clean tech private equity. SAM partners with Dow Jones Indexes in the publication and development of the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes (DJSI).
Founded in 1995, SAM today has more than 100 employees and belongs to Robeco, a subsidiary of the Dutch Rabobank Group (S&P AAA rating). As of December 31, 2010, SAM's total assets amount to USD: USD 15.8 billion.
For more information, please visit www.sam-group.com.
About BASF Venture Capital
BASF Venture Capital is the corporate venture capital company of BASF Group. BASF invests globally in promising start-up companies and funds. BASF's investments focus on innovative technologies with a high growth potential where chemistry plays an important role, as well as new materials and substances with significant market opportunities. BASF Venture Capital's team is set-apart by a unique combination of technical, scientific and financial expertise. BASF's portfolio includes exceptional start-up companies, who enrich the marketplace with innovative materials, methods or products. For more information, please visit www.basf-vc.de
