Clean technology company Plaxica has secured £5 million for further product development in a Series B fundraising round led by existing investor Imperial Innovations.

Clean technology company Plaxica has secured £5 million for further product development in a Series B fundraising round led by existing investor Imperial Innovations.

Invesco Perpetual and NESTA Investments also participated in the financing, which brings the total amount raised in the company to £10 million.

Founded in 2008, Plaxica researches alternative plastics with the aim to produce low-cost and environmentally friendly biopolymers for use in applications as diverse as packaging, textiles, electrical goods and vehicles. The company is based in London and Wilton.

Biopolymers are a type of plastic that instead of being manufactured from petrochemicals, are made from sustainable feedstocks such as sugar, starch or cellulose. To date, the use of biopolymers has been limited by their physical properties and relatively high cost of manufacture.

Philip Holbeche, chairman of Plaxica, comments, ‘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.

He continues, ‘This additional funding will allow Plaxica to advance key aspects of its technology towards commercial implementation and licensing.’

Imperial Innovations chief executive Susan Searle adds. ‘This fundraising will help accelerate the development of Plaxica’s exciting, environmentally friendly alternative to conventional oil based plastics.’