Plextronics Closes $20.6 Million Series B Financing

Plextronics, Inc. announced last week that it has completed a $20.6 million Series B financing. The round is led by Solvay North America Investments, LLC, a member of the Solvay Group, an international chemical and pharmaceutical group headquartered in Brussels. Solvay's $10 million investment grants the company a minority interest in Plextronics.

 

Significant investments were also received from Firelake Capital Management, Birchmere Ventures, Draper Triangle Ventures and Newlin Investment Company. Plextronics has raised a total of $37 million in equity capital over the last five years.

 

Plextronics' president and CEO Andy Hannah said that the financing will allow the company to expand its research and manufacturing capabilities, as well as increase its investment in sales and marketing activities.

 

"Our vision is to be the leading printed electronics company in the world, and we are fortunate to have the continued support of investors like Firelake, Birchmere, Draper and Newlin to assist us with that mission. I'm particularly proud that we have 100 percent participation in this round by all of our existing, major investors. That speaks volumes about the faith they have in our company," said Hannah.

 

Hannah indicated that the affiliation with Solvay is the beginning of an important global partnership with an organization that is developing a robust strategy in printed electronics.

 

"Solvay has a clear vision of building long-term, vibrant platforms in solar technology and printed electronics," Hannah said. "Plextronics shares that vision, and we plan to employ our complementary technology platforms to accelerate product commercialization and support the growth of our new partnership."

 

The Solvay and Plextronics partnership is also expected to result in a joint development agreement that focuses on technology emanating from Solvay's other partners in the organic electronics field.

 

Léopold Demiddeleer, director of Solvay Corporate R&D and New Business Development, said, "Plextronics has won a number of prestigious awards since it was founded in 2002, and is considered one of North America's most impressive emerging companies among high technology innovators. Their expertise, which capitalizes on extensive research efforts at Carnegie Mellon University, and their market-driven activities are a perfect match for one of Solvay's most promising platforms."

 

About Plextronics, Inc.

 

Plextronics, Inc. is a leading innovator of technology for printed electronics. The printed electronics market comprises next-generation light, power and circuitry products, including flexible displays, plastic solar cells and organic RFID tags. The market for printed electronics was approximately $1 billion in 2006 and is expected to exceed $300 billion within 20 years.

 

With a company vision of enabling 15 billion printed electronic devices by 2015, Plextronics is creating technology capable of commercial-scale performance and manufacturability. The company's device design, process technology and Plexcore® branded inks enable the formation of active electrical layers - the key drivers of printed electronics.

 

Plextronics was founded in 2002 as a spinout from Carnegie Mellon University, based upon conductive polymer technology developed by Dr. Richard McCullough. Over the past five years, Plextronics' team of scientists has refined and further developed this technology to deliver exceptional performance for printed electronics.

 

Some of the company's recent honors include: 2007 Red Herring Top 100 Company, 2006 Wall Street Journal Technology Innovation Awards Runner-Up, 2006 NREL Clean Energy Entrepreneur of the Year, the 2006 Organic Semiconductor Industry Awards Start-Up of the year, and Top 50 Nanotechnology Start-Up by Lux Research.

 

For more information about Plextronics, visit http://www.plextronics.com .

 

 

Solvay is an international chemical and pharmaceutical Group with headquarters in Brussels. In 2007, it formed and alliance with Thin Film Electronics of Sweden to develop advanced amterials for TFE's printed memory devices. It employs some 29,000 people in 50 countries. In 2006, its consolidated sales amounted to EUR 9.4 billion, generated by its three sectors of activity: Chemicals, Plastics and Pharmaceuticals. Solvay is listed on the Euronext stock exchange in Brussels. Details are available at http://www.solvay.com .

 

To learn more about printed electronics attend Printed Electronics USA 2007.