RWDC to increase its PHA production capacity with a new facility in Georgia
Type of post: NEWS IN BRIEF.
RWDC Industries Limited (RWDC), a Singapore-based biotech start-up focused on biopolymer production,
have announced the closing of a 133 M$ two-stage Series B funding round. RWDC
will use the funding to significantly increase its production capacity and meet
growing demand for polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs).
Press release: “RWDC Industries Raise US $133
Million In Series B Funding Round”, 5/5/2020.
Figure 1. Solon (PHA brand of RWDC) is
certified by TÜV AUSTRIA to be fully biodegradable in soil, water and marine
conditions (taken from the company website)
Co-founded by CEO Dr. Daniel Carraway and
Executive Chairman Roland Wee, RWDC develops innovative and cost-effective
biopolymer material solutions based on PHAs. PHAs are naturally generated by
microbial fermentation of plant-based oils or sugars. Primarily produced today
from used cooking oil, Solon (PHA brand of RWDC) is certified by TÜV
AUSTRIA to be fully biodegradable in soil, water and marine conditions, leaving
no toxic residue.
RWDC will use the funding expand the company’s
production capacity with a new facility in Athens (Georgia). Reflecting its own
mission of creating a sustainable, earth-friendly solution to plastics
pollution, RWDC is repurposing an idled factory originally constructed in the
late 1960s to use as its new production facility in Athens, which will bring
200 new jobs to the community. RWDC will also use the new funds to conduct
research and development efforts.
The new investment was co-led by Vickers Venture Partners (a global venture capital firm), Flint Hills Resources (a leading energy and resources company), CPV/CAP Pensionskasse Coop (the pension fund of Switzerland’s largest
retail company) and International SA (a fund linked to Interogo Holding AG). Existing
investors Eversource Retirement Plan Master Trust (the pension fund of
Eversource Energy, a Fortune 500 company) and WI Harper Group (a pioneer of US-Asia cross-border VC
investing) also participated in the round.