News

36 Million investment brings Avantium closer to commercial scale plant

Amsterdam, June 5, 2014 - “Today we made a huge step towards the first commercial scale plant for PEF,” says Tom van Aken, CEO of Avantium. “We closed a financing round of €36 million ($ 50 million) from a unique consortium of Swire Pacific, The Coca-Cola Company, DANONE, ALPLA, and existing shareholders. This investment makes it possible for us to complete the industrial validation of PEF and finalize the engineering and design of the first commercial scale plant.”
And moreover, this investment from our partners affirms their commitment to the YXY technology to produce PEF. “It is really special that iconic players in the food and beverage industry invest in a technology partner like Avantium. That gives us a common goal: make 100% biobased plastic bottles for their products. Together we believe that PEF is the packaging material of the future. Frank Roerink, CFO: “When my kids grow up and buy a Coke in a PEF bottle, based on 100% biobased material, recyclable and with better barrier properties, we actually made the world a bit more sustainable.”

Next steps

“Over the last couple of years we made big steps forward,” continues Tom van Aken. “But there is still work to be done. We need to finish the industrial validation of PEF and we are working on the finalization of the engineering and design of the first commercial scale plant. In our pilot plant in Geleen (NL) we already produce the real material at 20ton scale, but obviously our partners need larger quantities for both technical testing and market tests. We have successfully made PEF bottles with YXY technology that meet their needs on performance and sustainability. Now we need to scale up.
Important is our ultimate goal, the PEF bottle made from responsibly sourced plant based materials, such as 2nd generation feedstock. We think, and our partners agree, that we are on the right path and in the unique position with our YXY technology to make this a reality. With this technology we will realize the packaging of the future.”

Investment consortium

This unique consortium consists of Swire Pacific, The Coca-Cola Company, DANONE, ALPLA, and existing shareholders as Sofinnova Partners, Capricorn Venture Partners, ING Corporate Investments, Aescap Venture, Navitas Capital, Aster Capital and De Hoge Dennen Capital. “We are very pleased with this unique group of investors,” says Frank Roerink, CFO. Not only because they have shown their commitment on the technology but also that we will develop this together. We need each other’s knowledge, expertise and experience. And we all share the same vision, that gives a clear direction and creates a lot of energy.”