Avantium raises €30 mln to advance breakthrough YXY technology for green building blocks

10-Jun-11

Avantium has successfully raised €30 mln to advance its breakthrough YXY technology for green building blocks. The funds will be used for the construction and operation of its pilot plant in Geleen (the Netherlands), and for the development of green materials on basis of these YXY building blocks. A €25 mln financing round has been completed with new investors Sofinnova Partners, Aster Capital and De Hoge Dennen as well as existing investors Aescap Venture, Capricorn Cleantech Fund, ING Corporate Investments and Navitas Capital. In addition Avantium has secured a subsidy and innovation credit, of €5 mln, from the Dutch Ministry of Economy, Agriculture and Innovation (EL&I). Part of the funding has been used to buy out shares held by DFJ Esprit, AlpInvest, Eastman, EDBI and Pfizer, aligning the company's shareholder base with its strategy. Avantium is building a pilot plant to demonstrate its YXY technology which enables the cost effective production of Furanics building blocks for green materials and fuels. The pilot plant will also be able to produce larger volumes of YXY building blocks for application development of new, green plastics, chemicals and materials. This will facilitate the development and commercialization of Avantium's next-generation polyester: PEF. PEF is a new to the world polymer that can be made out of plant material instead of oil. Avantium expects that PEF will become the green material to replace petroleum based polyesters such as PET. Avantium has demonstrated that PEF has numerous superior properties when compared with PET, including lower permeability of oxygen, carbon-dioxide and water and an enhanced ability to withstand heat. The YXY technology makes it possible to produce a 100% biobased, 100% recyclable polyester that can compete on price and performance with traditional materials such as PET. Avantium is actively working on the development of PEF bottles for beverages, food, cosmetic products and detergents. In parallel, Avantium is developing both PEF fibers, used for textiles and carpets, as well as other materials based on of its YXY building blocks, such as polyamides and coatings.