Solvay today announced that it has decided to participate, as lead investor, in the second capital increase in three years of Plextronics, Inc., an innovator of technology for the printed electronics market.
Plextronics specializes in the development and commercialization of polymer-based technologies for printed electronics such as OLED lighting and displays, organic solar cells and RFID ’smart’ tags. By investing USD 12 million, Solvay becomes the largest minority shareholder in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based company. The capital increase gives Plextronics additional financial means to pursue its development and growth strategy in printed electronics. This is an emerging industry that takes advantage of printing technologies to manufacture electronic devices with a wider variety of shapes and supports, including thin, flexible substrates.
“Solvay has identified organic electronics and sustainable energy as platforms for future growth based on radical innovation. The group believes that the new materials and technologies, which it is currently developing through its own R&D efforts and a number of partnerships with technological leaders, convey potential solutions to some of our contemporary societies’ most acute issues, such as the cost-effective implementation of renewable energy sources and energy-efficient devices”, says Léopold Demiddeleer, General Manager of Future Businesses Competence Center. “With its cutting edge technology, Plextronics is a perfect partner for one of Solvay’s most promising innovation platforms,” adds Demiddeleer.
“The funding from this round will enable us to continue to advance our lighting and solar products - namely our Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) and Organic Photovoltaic (OPV) materials and inks - so that we can scale these products to meet the customer and industry demand we are seeing,” comments Andrew W. Hannah, President and Chief Executive Officer of Plextronics.
“The global collaboration that our companies envisioned a couple of years ago is going even better than we could have imagined. To have a corporate investor like Solvay that understands our markets, technology and the opportunities that await us is extremely important,” Hannah adds. “Solvay has become a true partner.”
The investment in Plextronics complements Solvay’s own R&D efforts in organic electronics and other collaborations in the field, such as the R&D agreement between the Group’s 100 % subsidiary Solvay Solexis and Thin Film Electronics ASA of Oslo, Norway, to develop polymeric inks for the manufacture of printed memories, as well as Solvay’s research programs with the Center for Organic Photonics and Electronics of the Georgia Institute of Technology. Plextronics, Inc. is an international technology company that specializes in printed solar, lighting and other electronics. Headquartered in Pittsburgh, PA, the company’s focus is on organic solar cell and OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) lighting, specifically the conductive inks and process technologies that enable those and other similar applications. Particularly relevant as the worldwide search for renewable energy becomes more urgent, the company’s technology will enable the mass production of printed devices, such as low-cost organic solar cells and high-efficiency lighting.
Details are available at www.plextronics.com.
SOLVAY is an international chemical and pharmaceutical Group with headquarters in Brussels. It employs more than 29,000 people in 50 countries. In 2008, its consolidated sales amounted to EUR 9.5 billion, generated by its three sectors of activity: Chemicals, Plastics and Pharmaceuticals. Solvay is listed on the NYSE Euronext stock exchange in Brussels (NYSE Euronext: SOLB.BE - Bloomberg: SOLB.BB - Reuters: SOLBt.BR). Details are available at www.solvay.com.

Printed Battery developer Blue Spark Technologies closes series B funding

PRESS RELEASE

Blue Spark Technologies, Inc., the leading designer and manufacturer of thin, flexible, green printed batteries for industry, recently announced that the company has completed its first closing on a planned $5.0 million round of Series B funding. This initial investment will be used to support the ramp-up of Blue Spark’s 1.5V carbon-zinc battery production for large volumes of battery assisted passive RFID implementations scheduled to ship starting in the fourth quarter of 2009. Funding sources include existing Blue Spark investors Early Stage Partners and SunBridge Partners, as well as several additional private investors.

According to Blue Spark President and CEO Gary R. Johnson: “The development of a new integrated circuit designed to support UHF Gen2 battery assisted passive RFID, from Swiss semiconductor manufacturer EM Microelectronic, is a game changer for RFID. Systems integrators and end users have now become aware of a number of high-value applications for which passive UHF did not provide adequate read range or reliability, and active RFID was simply too expensive.

“With battery assisted operation, the performance of UHF RFID dramatically improves, while the cost remains a small fraction of active,” Johnson continues. “We are confident that the new price/performance point for battery assisted RFID will lead to numerous high-volume users. We are especially pleased to see the demand for our batteries take off as initial battery assisted passive projects move from development into production later this year.” Johnson was interviewed this week by CNBC’s “The Tech Effect” for his comments on the impact of flexible batteries on various markets including RFID.

To view a video of the interview, click on this link: http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?play=1&video=1188892272Or visit www.cnbc.com and click on the Videos icon.

According to Jim Petras, Managing Director of Early Stage Partners: “We are excited to be able to continue to support Blue Spark by participating in this series B round of funding. Blue Spark is the leading provider of printed power solutions, and our support will enable them to meet their goal of ramping to high volume manufacturing in the 4th quarter of this year.”

John Gannon, General Partner at SunBridge Partners, adds: “As the lead investor in Blue Spark’s series A round, we were confident in Blue Spark’s ability to deliver world class technology through an effective management team. Our participation in this series B round underscores our assurance, and will enable them to expand their personnel in support of their build to revenue later this year.”

Blue Spark’s has closed on $1.5 million in this $5 million round which will enable them to kick off their continued growth activities while providing working capital to support their sales ramp. Blue Spark is working with institutional investors to close out the remaining $3.5 million in this round.

About Blue Spark Technologies

Blue Spark Technologies, Inc. is the leader in developing flexible, printed, “green,” proprietary power source solutions for battery-powered printed electronic systems. The company was founded as Thin Battery Technologies in 2002 with patented technology and technical leadership from Energizer (Eveready Battery Company). Blue Spark customers include manufacturers, product designers, and integrators across multiple industries including: interactive packaging, RFID, pharmaceutical, powered smart cards, and novelty items. Users of products powered by Blue Spark batteries enjoy increased efficiency, greater convenience and portability, improved safety, lower manufacturing and assembly costs, higher profit margins, and greater environmental responsibility.

For more information, visit www.bluesparktechnologies.com or call +1 440 249 5400.

About Early Stage Partners

Early Stage Partners is an early stage venture capital firm based in Cleveland, Ohio. The company invests in promising opportunities in instrumentation and control technology, life sciences, advanced materials, energy, information technology, and electronics. The company’s principals have over one hundred years combined experience in early stage company formation and development, with a significant network of relationships throughout the United State that can be used to attract management, develop strategic partnerships, and provide later stage funding. www.esplp.com.

About SunBridge Partners

SunBridge Partners is a US-based venture capital firm pursuing a targeted, research-based approach to identifying and investing in private US technology companies pioneering innovations based on advanced technologies in computing, communications and manufacturing, including materials, semiconductors, components, equipment and software. SunBridge Partners’ capacity for strategic guidance based on deep domain expertise, proven track record of assisting portfolio companies, and global network of contacts and partners providing international market insight and revenue opportunities make it a preferred and effective investment partner to the most promising of startup companies. www.sunbridgepartners.com

Kovio Raise $20 Million

Kovio, Inc., a privately held pioneer in printed silicon electronics, today announced that to date it has raised $20 million in Series E financing, all from its current investors. With this series of funding, Kovio plans to commence volume shipments of its Kovio RF Barcodes, a new category of barcode that leverages low cost and eco-friendly printed electronics to affordably and securely bring intelligence to everyday things - from transit tickets to consumer products.

“The continued support of our world-class investor team validates the strength of Kovio’s vision and the growing momentum behind bringing its RF Barcodes to market,” said Amir Mashkoori, president and CEO, Kovio. “Our investors recognize that Kovio has immense potential, with an opportunity to serve a market of literally trillions of products. This round of funding will provide Kovio the capital required to reach its next significant milestone - volume shipments of the first printed RF Barcodes in the industry.”

Kovio plans to bring together the online and physical worlds through RF Barcodes that are printed utilizing Kovio’s proprietary silicon inks and high-performance graphics printing technologies. Kovio’s RF Barcodes are designed to affordably and securely enable a wide range of digital information for everyday consumer products, including product details, direct access to Web sites, nutritional information or even promotional programs. The digital information that is enabled by Kovio RF Barcodes and accessed through ubiquitous mediums such as the mobile phone, creates new opportunities in promotions and authentication at the item-level, enabling a new communication medium for brands and retailers to interact with consumers at the point of sale.

Kovio investors who participated in the current round of financing include Bessemer Venture Partners, Duff Ackerman & Goodrich Ventures, Flagship Ventures, Harris & Harris Group, Jerusalem Venture Partners, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Mitsui Ventures, Northgate Capital, Panasonic Venture Group, Pangaea Ventures, Pinnacle Ventures and Yasuda Enterprise Development.

“We are very excited about the Kovio opportunity,” said Rob Chandra, partner, Bessemer Venture Partners. “Kovio is a company that is creating a new category of products with unique, protectable technology, and we believe the market they can enable is enormous. As a result, they fit our highly selective investment profile very well.”

Kovio’s printed silicon platform can also be applied to a range of other applications, including sensors and displays, expanding the company’s potential market opportunity beyond RF barcodes. This financing announcement follows a series of recent company award wins, including the 2009 Red Herring 100 North America, the 2008 and 2009 IDTechEx Printed Electronics Awards for New Product Development, and the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal 2008 Emerging Tech Special Judges’ Award.

About Kovio, Inc.

Kovio, Inc., a privately held Silicon Valley company, is developing a new category of semiconductor products using printed silicon electronics and thin-film technology. Kovio’s approach delivers a unique and compelling value proposition in multiple industries, including retail, healthcare, consumer electronics, transportation, manufacturing and energy.
Kovio’s investors are Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Bessemer Venture Partners, Duff Ackerman & Goodrich Ventures, Flagship Ventures, Harris & Harris Group, Jerusalem Venture Partners, Mitsui Ventures, Northgate Capital, Panasonic Venture Group, Pangaea Ventures, Pinnacle Ventures, Toppan Forms and Yasuda Enterprise Development.

For more information on Kovio, please visit http://www.kovio.com.