Braveheart Investment Group plc
01 October 2007
1 October 2007
Braveheart Investment Group
Investment into NiTech Solutions Limited - Second Close
Braveheart Investment Group ('Braveheart'), the technology commercialisation and
investment management company, announces that it has arranged second close
funding of approximately £800k into NiTech Solutions Limited ('NiTech'). The
funding is being provided by PUK Ventures, with the possibility of some
additional investment from private investors.
NiTech, a leading edge process intensification business, has developed a
patented mixing technology for use across a wide range of industry applications.
Based in East Kilbride, the Company was spun-out from Heriot-Watt University in
2003, having invented and patented a unique mixing technology known as the
Continuous Oscillatory Baffled ReactorTM ('COBR'). Since then, NiTech has
developed COBR to meet the specific needs of manufacturing customers such as
Genzyme and FujiFilm in the UK and Avebe in Holland. COBR can be used by
companies within the process industries to lower costs by 50% and reduce process
time by 90% in manufacturing a wide range of commodities including chemicals,
drugs and biofuels. The technology has significant advantages over traditional
manufacturing processes in terms of cost and performance - making manufacturing
faster but without compromising on product quality. Use of COBR also reduces the
environmental impact of a process because of its lower use of energy compared to
traditional methods.
The investment follows the initial close in December 2006, where Braveheart led
the funding round of c£1m.
The monies raised will enable NiTech to create additional reference sites for
its applications and drive forward will its commercialisation activity.
Commenting, Geoffrey Thomson, Chief Executive of Braveheart said: 'We are
delighted to have brought in a respected institutional investor in the form of
PUK. This investment by PUK strengthens the NiTech proposition and underpins
the investment we made late last year.'
Ian Laird, Managing Director, of NiTech Solutions added: 'Since Braveheart's
initial investment last year we have demonstrated the use of our technology for
commercial applications such as crystallisation and hydrogenation, and won new
customers producing a range of products including biofuels. We welcome this
additional investment that will allow us to accelerate the next phase of
commercialisation.'
Puneet Bhatia, Investment Director of PUK Ventures said: 'Nitech offers a
revolutionary technology with potential to make fundamental impact on quality
and cost of manufacturing in key sectors including speciality chemicals,
pharmaceuticals, oils and biofuels. We look forward to working closely with the
management team in helping establish Nitech's as a premier provider of process
designs and solutions.'
NiTech has recently signed a contract with its first Biodiesel customer, Phoenix
Fuels based in Nottingham UK. Their live production plant will be commissioned
in December 2007.
For further information, please contact:
Braveheart Investment Group Tavistock Communications (for Braveheart)
Geoffrey Thomson Rachel Drysdale
Chief Executive Simon Hudson
Tel: 01738 587555 Tel: 020 7920 3150
rdrysdale@tavistock.co.uk
NiTech Solutions Limited PUK Ventures
Ian Laird Puneet Bhatia
Managing Director Investment Director
Tel: 01355 245 993 Tel: 020 7273 8365
Ian.laird@nitechsolutions.co.uk Puneet.Bhatia@PUKVentures.com
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange