Palo Alto, CA – May 7, 2013
Woodside Capital Partners International LLC announces that it acted as financial advisor to FibeRio, the developer and manufacturer of Forcespinning® nanofiber production systems, on a $13 million capital raise led by SABIC Ventures and Aster Capital Partners. The funding will be used to accelerate FibeRio’s commercial growth, introduce larger scale production systems to the market and execute on a growing pipeline of orders and global opportunities with industry leading customers.
SABIC Ventures B.V., is Saudi Basic Industries Corporation’s corporate venture capital arm, and Aster Capital Partners, is a leading energy and environment technologies focused venture capital firm sponsored by Solvay, Schneider Electric, Alstom and the European investment fund. FibeRio’s existing shareholders also participated in this financing round, including the University of Texas System – UT Horizon Fund, the University of Texas – Pan American, the State of Texas, Silverton Partners and Cottonwood Technology Fund I.
Forcespinning is a disruptive, platform technology which enables leading manufacturers to produce nanofibers on a truly commercial scale in a cost effective way using a wide range of polymers with an environmentally sensitive process.
“With the support of SABIC and Aster Capital, FibeRio will be able to significantly accelerate our vision for Forcespinning to become the world’s leading, cost effective process to produce nanofibers with the integration of a wide range of resins which have never been made into nanofibers before and can offer performance advantages,” said Ellery Buchanan, CEO of FibeRio. “The support of SABIC and Aster Capital validates the uniqueness of our Forcespinning technology and will help the company accelerate our growth, open new markets and enable new applications for all of our customers.”
About FibeRio
FibeRio Technology Corporation provides the technology and capital equipment to transform the materials market through the unlimited availability of cost effective nanofibers. Founded in 2009, the company has already delivered several large scale industrial Forcespinning units to industry leading customers across the globe. The company is headquartered in its manufacturing facility in McAllen, TX. For more information, please visit www.fiberiotech.com or call 956-207-5448.
About SABIC Ventures
SABIC Ventures is the global corporate venture capital arm of SABIC, based in the Netherlands. Its primary goal is to seek out innovative technologies and businesses consistent with the company’s global strategy. Its investment focus includes functional materials, alternative feed stocks for chemicals and materials and alternative energy technologies. SABIC Ventures invests directly in seed stage, early stage and late stage companies. For more information, please visit www.sabic.com/ventures.
About SABIC
Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) ranks among the world’s top petrochemical companies. The company is among the world’s market leaders in the production of polyethylene, polypropylene and other advanced thermoplastics, glycols, methanol and fertilizers. SABIC recorded a net profit of SR 29.24 billion (US$ 7.80 billion) in 2011. Sales revenues for 2011 totaled SR 189.90 billion (US$ 50.64 billion). Total assets stood at SR 332.78 billion (US$ 88.74 billion) at the end of 2011. SABIC’s businesses are grouped into Chemicals, Polymers, Performance Chemicals, Fertilizers, Metals and Innovative Plastics. SABIC has significant research resources with 16 dedicated Technology & Innovation facilities in Saudi Arabia, the USA, the Netherlands, Spain, Japan, India and South Korea. The company operates in more than 40 countries across the world with around 40,000 employees worldwide. SABIC manufactures on a global scale in Saudi Arabia, the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific. Headquartered in Riyadh, SABIC was founded in 1976 when the Saudi Arabian Government decided to use the hydrocarbon gases associated with its oil production as the principal feedstock for production of chemicals, polymers and fertilizers. The Saudi Arabian Government owns 70 percent of SABIC shares with the remaining 30 percent held by private investors in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Cooperation Council countries. For more information, please visit www.sabic.com.
About Aster Capital
Aster Capital is a leading energy and environment technologies focused venture capital firm sponsored by Schneider Electric, Alstom and Solvay, global leaders in the energy and chemicals industries, and the European investment fund through the Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme. They have jointly invested in Aster’s second $135 million investment fund. With a total of $200 million under management, Aster aims to proactively leverage the expertise of these sponsors to support its portfolio companies in their further development. Aster Capital has offices in Paris, San Francisco, Shanghai, Tel Aviv and Tokyo. For more information, please visit www.aster.com.
About Woodside Capital Partners
Woodside Capital is a global investment bank with offices in Silicon Valley and London that delivers world-class strategic and financial advice to emerging growth companies in the technology and life sciences sectors. With a strong track record in M&A, strategic partnerships and private placements, Woodside Capital has been providing investment banking services worldwide since 2001. The team of Woodside Capital has completed transactions totaling more than $10 billion. The firm is also the Silicon Valley headquarters of M&A International, the world’s leading mergers and acquisitions alliance. For more information, please visit www.woodsidecap.com.
Press Release Contact:
Greg Mischou
Woodside Capital Partners International LLC