Validation of the project’s feasibility and launch of its pre-industrial pilot Carbios receives € 0.7 million from Bpifrance
Clermont-Ferrand, France, December 11, 2014 - Carbios (NYSE Alternext in Paris: ALCRB), an innovative green chemistry company specializing in breakthrough technologies dedicated to the recovery of plastic waste and the production of bio-polymers, announces having received € 0.7 million from Bpifrance for completing the second development stage of its collaborative project, Thanaplast™, spearheaded by Carbios.
The results obtained by the consortium of partners brought together during this stage met the research performance goals set for the bioprocesses developed under the Thanaplast™ project. Carbios received the expected public co-funding intended to help the company initiate the pre-industrial pilot of these bioprocesses. Notable examples of these bioprocesses include the production of an innovative self-destructible plastic material and a biological recycling process for a first polymer, the polylactic acid (PLA).
“The teams validated the proof of concept in laboratory tests for at least one application for each of our bioprocesses (biodegradation, bio-recycling and bio-production). These results are in line with the objectives initially set by the Thanaplast™ project and we are confident in our ability to get these first applications to the industrialization stage,” explained Jean-Claude Lumaret, CEO of Carbios.
The Thanaplast™ Project
To date, Carbios has received € 4.5 million and is slated to collect € 2.3 million from Bpifrance at the completion of future development stages. This expansive project, one of the first to address the recovery of end-of-life plastic waste, brings into collaboration several academic and industrial partners (CNRS, INRA, TWB, Poitiers University, Deinove, Limagrain the Barber Group), with Carbios at the heart of it. With a budget of € 22 million over 5 years, including € 15 million directly raised by Carbios, Thanaplast™ unites more than 60 researchers and is supported by Bpifrance as part of the French Strategic Industrial Innovation (ISI) projects assistance program. Bpifrance’s financial support amounts to € 9.6 million, of which € 6.8 million are directly allocated to Carbios. This project is segmented into five key phases, each corresponding to a successive developmental advancement so to achieve the industrialization stage in 5 years.
“We are pleased with the renewed trust we received from Bpifrance, proof that the Thanaplast™ project is running smoothly. We have been a leader in the field by initiating and consolidating a public/private partnership that brings together the top French talent working on the subject. The major results obtained by the Thanaplast™ project’s consortium validate the potential synergies between the academic and industrial worlds. Carbios also reaffirms the relevance and efficiency of its upstream collaborative research model,” concluded Jean-Claude Lumaret, CEO of Carbios.
About Carbios
Carbios is a young, innovative green chemistry company, whose mission is to find biological solutions to the environmental and sustainable development issues faced by industrial businesses today. Carbios acquired the rights to research that was conducted over a number of years by various public and private sector laboratories. By leveraging the unique properties of biological catalysts (enzymes), it has used this research as the foundation for developing innovative industrial bioprocesses that optimize the technical, economic and environmental performance of polymers (thermoplastic materials and synthetic or food-based fibers). The company has focused its efforts on a strategic application sector: plastics. Carbios’ growth strategy is based on a clear business model of industrial value creation that targets attractive markets, develops innovative and competitive bioprocesses and licenses them to major industrial stakeholders for commercialization. Carbios benefits from the financial support of the leading European venture capital firm Truffle Capital. Carbios was founded in 2011 and has been managed, since its inception, by the Holding Incubatrice Chimie Verte fund. Carbios was granted the label “Young Innovative Company” by Bpifrance (former OSEO) and is eligible for investments by private equity mutual funds (FCPIs).
For more information, please visit: www.carbios.fr
Carbios is eligible for the PEA-PME, a government program allowing French residents investing in SMEs to benefit from income tax rebates.
Contacts:
Carbios
Jean-Claude Lumaret
CEO
04 73 86 51 76
contact@carbios.fr
NewCap.
Financial Communication
& Investor Relations
Valentine Brouchot / Pierre Laurent
01 44 71 94 96
carbios@newcap.fr
Alize RP
Press relations
Caroline Carmagnol / Valentine Boivin
01 44 54 36 63 / 06 83 48 23 27
carbios@alizerp.com
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