CHELMSFORD, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--FRX Polymers, Inc. (FRX) announced today that it has closed on $15.7MM in a Series B equity round of financing. The funds will be used for working capital and to partially fund FRX’s first commercial scale production facility. FRX’s new plant is being built to fulfill significant customer demand for the Company’s novel flame retardant polymers.
FRX is the manufacturer and marketer of a new, environmentally friendly family of inherently flame retardant plastics. FRX’s products are currently being sold in consumer electronic, building and construction and transportation markets as polymeric flame retardant additives, as “stand-alone” inherently flame retardant engineering plastics and as reactive flame retardant additives for thermosetting plastics.
Leading the Series B investment round is SAM Private Equity with headquarters in Zurich Switzerland. Joining SAM are the Company’s Series A co-lead investors (Israel Cleantech Ventures and Capricorn Venture Partners), a syndicate of private investors from Western Canada, North Sky Capital (Minneapolis, MN) and FRX’s founders (including Triton Systems, Inc.) and its employees.
FRX Polymers is currently in the growth phase of commercializing its unique family of polyphosphonate homopolymers, copolymers and oligomers. These plastics are tough, transparent, possess high melt flow, and are inherently flame retardant. Due to FRX Polymer’s high molecular weight, they do not migrate out of the host plastic when used as flame retardant additives. They also typically improve melt flow and/or mechanical properties – as well as deliver excellent flame retardant properties. FRX polymers are environmentally friendly and are replacing certain families of banned halogenated flame retardant additives.
FRX’s intellectual property is covered by an extensive and growing patent portfolio. To date, FRX has ten granted patents and approximately 50 patent applications. FRX was the 2008 recipient of Frost and Sullivan’s “Innovation of the Year” award for flame retardant materials and received the first-place award in the Clean Technology Business Forum, a competition sponsored by Battelle at the Global Plastics Environmental Conference in Orlando, FL in 2009. FRX was also featured in The Economic Report airing on CNN and Fox Business News which aired in 2009.
FRX currently operates two pilot plants in Chelmsford, MA and a third larger polymer pilot plant in Switzerland. FRX is currently producing at capacity and will use part of the Series B investment to finance its first commercial plant.
“FRX represents an extremely compelling investment opportunity for us,” stated Keimpe Keuning, Senior Investment Manager at SAM Private Equity. “FRX is now entering into the growth phase in its evolution and was thus a great fit for our fund. Its products are unique and are meeting an important and growing market need within the green materials segment of the Cleantech field.”
Claude J. Stoufs, Senior Investment Manager for Capricorn Partners said, “We were investors in FRX’s series A round of financing and we are delighted to be investing in its Series B round of financing. FRX has made great strides since its Series A, having built and sold out a new polymer pilot plant in Switzerland and now raising additional financing to fund a commercial scale production facility, which earned the strong endorsement of our investment committee for its Series B.”
“We followed FRX’s progress for one full year prior to co-leading their Series A financing round and so we have had a long and positive experience with the company and its management team. We are strong supporters of the company’s mission and are very excited to participate in this Series B round,” said Jack Levy, partner at Israel Cleantech Ventures. “There is a clear global market demand for the company’s green flame retardant plastics and FRX’s products have begun to penetrate. We think that FRX’s unique products are coming to the market at the right time and will play an important role in redefining a significant portion of the $15B Flame Retardant Plastics industry.”
“We are delighted to welcome our new lead investor SAM Private Equity, our new Western Canadian Private Investors and North Sky Capital as well as welcoming back our existing investors, Capricorn, ICV and our founders and employees,” said Marc Lebel, President and CEO of FRX Polymers. “FRX has an exciting future ahead and with this strong Series B syndicate in place, we have taken an important step in realizing that potential.”
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.
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 and its Capricorn Health-tech Fund. The 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 investment by the European Investment Fund through the "Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme" of the European Union. For more information visit their website at www.capricorn.be.
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 visit their website www.israelcleantech.com.
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 and a polymer pilot plant in Switzerland recently commissioned in mid 2010. 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.