Evonik Industries has led a $12million Series C financing round in FRX Polymers Inc., Chelmsford (USA). Its corporate venture capital fund, Evonik Venture Capital GmbH, invested $2.5 million in the round. FRX is the manufacturer and marketer of a new, environmentally friendly family of inherently flame retardant plastics and oligomers, trade named Nofia. The closing coincided with the opening of FRX's first industrial scale flame retardant polymer plant in Antwerp, Belgium.Nofia products are a family of halogen-free, phosphorus-containing oligomers and polymers that are inherently flame retardant and display unique physical properties. FRX’s products have applications in consumer electronic, building and construction, and transportation markets.
"We are delighted to have become an investor 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", said Dr. Bernhard Mohr, Managing Director of Evonik Venture Capital, who are also represented on the Board of Directors of FRX.
"We welcome our new investor, Evonik Venture Capital", said Marc Lebel, President and CEO of FRX Polymers. "With Evonik, we have added an important strategic partner who shares the same vision as we do for the growth of the company to our shareholder base."
Joining Evonik in this financing round are FRX's current shareholders, Capricorn Venture Partners, DB Masdar, SAM Private Equity, BASF Venture Capital, Israel Cleantech Ventures, a Western Canadian Syndicate and many of the company's founders and employees.
Investments in technology companies and specialized venture capital funds provide Evonik with rapid access to new technologies outside of the existing portfolio covering the most important technologies trends and geographic regions. In the last two years, Evonik Venture Capital invested in the Emerald Cleantech Fund III with focus on Europe and North America, the North-American Pangaea Ventures Fund III, and the High-Tech Gründerfonds II, Germany’s leading cross industry seed-stage investor.
