2012
20 January 2012
Plaxica awards contract to design its biopolymers demonstration facility to Grimley Smith Associates
Plaxica announced that it has awarded Grimley Smith Associates (GSA) a contract to design Plaxica’s first biopolymer demonstration facility. GSA is multidisciplinary engineering design consultancy providing comprehensive engineering design, project management and process safety services worldwide and is a part of Fabricom GDF SUEZ. Plaxica will build the demonstration facility at Wilton International on Teesside and will use it to gain key process data on the technology in preparation for scale-up, commercial implementation and technology licensing. The plant is expected to be operational later in 2012.
2011
26 September 2011
Plaxica announces closing of £5 million Series B financing
Plaxica announced that it raised a further £5 million in a Series B financing from Imperial Innovations, Invesco Perpetual and NESTA Investments. Philip Holbeche, Chairman of Plaxica commented “Since the Series A financing a year ago, Plaxica has made significant progress, including growing the company’s technical and commercial teams, expanding its intellectual property portfolio and establishing a second UK site in Wilton on Teesside that is focused on process development, scale-up and demonstration. This additional funding will allow Plaxica to advance key aspects of its technology towards commercial implementation and licensing.”
26 September 2011
Plaxica announces appointment of Phil Goodier as CEO
Plaxica announced that Phil Goodier has been named as Chief Executive Officer. Plaxica’s Chairman, Philip Holbeche commented "We very much look forward to working alongside someone of Phil’s calibre and experience to propel Plaxica through its next stage of development. He has a proven ability to lead top performing teams and drive shareholder value, and his skills will be central to Plaxica’s progress through technology demonstration and commercialisation”.
7 February 2011
Plaxica announces receipt of further Technology Strategy Board grant
Plaxica announced the award of a Technology Strategy Board Industrial Biotechnology grant to support its lactic acid and PLA R&D activities. John Hamlin, CEO of Plaxica said "This is the third grant that Plaxica has been awarded in support of its innovative development programme. Such support provides further validation of Plaxica's technology and the opportunity to produce high value chemicals such as lactic acid and PLA from renewable feedstocks”.
4 January 2011
Plaxica announces the appointment of Mr Mark Sutton as Chief Operating Officer
Plaxica announced the appointment of Mark Sutton as Chief Operating Officer. Mr Sutton was formerly Vice President at Davy Process Technology. Philip Holbeche, Chairman of Plaxica said "Mr Sutton is a key addition to the management team at Plaxica. Mark has spent more than 20 years in the chemical process industries and brings extensive experience of technology licensing and process technology development to Plaxica".
2010
13 August 2010
Plaxica announces closing of £3 million Series A financing
Plaxica announced that it raised a further £3 million in a Series A financing in which all existing institutional investors participated. The funds will be used to accelerate development and scale up of the company’s next generation PLA technology. John Hamlin, CEO of Plaxica said "having made solid technical and commercial progress over the recent months, I am delighted that our investors have provided significant further funding to allow the rapid development and scale up of Plaxica’s technology. The industrial interest we continue to experience demonstrates the significant level of demand for the company’s PLA technology".
26 March 2010
Plaxica announces appointment of Dr Martin Riediker as non-executive director
Plaxica announced the appointment to the board of Martin Riediker as non-executive director. An independent industry expert, and formerly Chief Innovation Officer and a member of the executive committee of Ciba, Dr Riediker was also head of Ciba's US Polymers Division. Philip Holbeche, Chairman of Plaxica said "I am pleased to welcome Dr Riediker to Plaxica’s board. Martin has spent 30 years in the chemical industries and brings an extensive knowledge of the polymers sector along with significant corporate strategy and operations experience to Plaxica".
11 March 2010
Plaxica announces receipt of further Technology Strategy Board grant
Plaxica announced the award of a Technology Strategy Board High Value Chemicals grant to support its polylactic acid R&D activities. John Hamlin, CEO of Plaxica said "The award of this grant is a further indication of the innovative nature of Plaxica's approach to the production of high value chemicals such as polylactic acid".
2009
5 November 2009
Plaxica announces second closing of recent fundraising
Plaxica announced the second closing of its recent financing, in which Invesco Perpetual joined the existing consortium of Imperial Innovations, Carbon Trust Investments and NESTA Ventures.
8 October 2009
Plaxica raises £1 million to develop next generation biopolymers
Plaxica, a spin out from Imperial College London, announced that it has raised £1 million from a consortium comprising Imperial Innovations, the Carbon Trust and NESTA. Plaxica is developing a new generation of polylactic acid bioploymers derived from renewable resources, which could match or exceed the properties and application reach of currently available petrochemical based alternatives. The current market for biopolymers is $2 billion and is growing rapidly at >10% per year.
30 September 2009
Plaxica announces award of Technology Strategy Board grant
Plaxica announced that it has been awarded a High Value Manufacturing Technology Strategy Board grant in conjunction with Imperial College London and Holloid Plastics Limited to support its polylactic acid R&D activities.