The proceeds will be used to complete the industrial validation of PEF and finalize the engineering and design of the first commercial scale plant.
Biobased plastic
"Closing this financing round with Swire, The Coca-Cola Company, Danone, ALPLA and our existing investors underpins their commitment to making PEF bottles a commercial success,” said Tom van Aken, CEO, Avantium.
“PEF is a 100% biobased plastic with superior performance compared to today's packaging materials and represents a tremendous market opportunity. Our proprietary YXY technology to make PEF has been proven at pilot plant scale as we are now moving to commercial deployment."
Jan van der Eijk, chairman, Avantium Supervisory Board, added the deal was a remarkable milestone in the biobased chemicals industry where brand owners such as The Coca-Cola Company and DANONE jointly invest for the first time in a project.
Enhanced barrier properties
As part of its strategy to use responsibly sourced plant based materials for PEF production, Avantium will validate the use of 2nd generation feedstock.
Follow on investments were made by existing shareholders Sofinnova Partners, Capricorn Venture Partners, ING Corporate Investments, Aescap Venture, Navitas Capital, Aster Capital and De Hoge Dennen Capital.
"We participate in this venture as we believe in the future of bio-based plastics for our packaging, with a potential significant reduction in carbon footprint and enhanced barrier properties compared to PET,” added Frederic Jouin, director, Danone Research Packaging Center.
“With this investment, we re-affirm our will to launch a 100% bio-based bottle not in direct competition with food and 100% recyclable and our wish to accelerate this launch on the market."