To Accelerate Development and Production of Advanced Activated Carbon Materials
Montreal, QC, May 16, 2005 –CarboPur Technologies, Inc., a manufacturer of high performance advanced activated carbon materials, announced that it has closed its Series A round of venture capital financing. Ventures West, one of Canada’s largest private venture capital companies, led the round, with participation by MSBi Capital.
“This oversubscribed round will give us the ability to accelerate the development of a range of unique activated carbon materials, in cooperation with key OEM partners, and prepare for the launch of full-scale production”, said Yves Sicard, Co-Founder and CEO of CarboPur.
Activated carbon products are used as a component in ever increasing numbers of market applications, primarily as a filter of undesired contaminants in liquid and air streams. These applications range from consumer-based air and water purifiers, to military-grade protective suits, to more recent applications in the areas of vehicle cabin air filtration as well as energy storage (fuel cells and ultracapacitors). While the number of new applications using activated carbon materials has been increasing rapidly, technological innovation in activated carbon materials has remained relatively stagnant. CarboPur has developed a breakthrough patent-protected process, which is cost competitive and environmentally friendly, for the production of advanced activated materials that have unique adsorptive, physical and electrical properties.
“CarboPur's technology is truly unique,” adds David Berkowitz, Senior Vice President of Ventures West. “We believe CarboPur could significantly expand the market for highly-engineered activated carbon products.”
Founded by Yves Sicard and Kendrick Martin, the company's core technologies for the production and regeneration of advanced activated carbon materials, originate from 12 years of experimental research work conducted at McGill University’s Environmental Research and Service Laboratories.
“In partnership with McGill University, CarboPur has developed a strong intellectual property portfolio and is uniquely positioned to develop advanced activated carbon products for a broad range of applications,” added Chris Arsenault, Partner at MSBi Capital, “From mass-market applications such as replacing kitchen hood filters to new highly-engineered filtering systems.”
About CarboPur Technologies
CarboPur Technologies designs and manufactures high-performance advanced activated carbon materials and solutions for filtration applications, such as air and water purification, as well as energy storage applications, such as fuel cells, ultracapacitors and hydrogen storage. CarboPur’s unique manufacturing process makes it possible to produce from various commodity textile precursors, activated carbon materials with superior physical and adsorptive properties compared to the best available granular, powder or fabric activated carbon products, and at lower production costs. More information about CarboPur is available at www.carbopur.ca.
About Ventures West
Ventures West Management Inc., a private venture capital investment group, is one of Canada’s leading investors in early stage technology companies. Since its founding in 1968, Ventures West has formed eight venture capital funds which total over $700 million and has invested in more than 130 companies. Ventures West has the people, the expertise, and the capital to help entrepreneurs develop emerging technology companies into market leaders. Investments focus on four technology sectors: Biotechnology, Communications, Energy Technology and Information Technology. For more information, visit www.ventureswest.com
About MSBI Capital
MSBi Capital is a seed and early stage venture capital fund dedicated to commercializing innovations in information technology, the physical sciences and life sciences. MSBi Capital has a particular focus on establishing and building companies based on technology advancements and inventions originating from the universities of McGill, Sherbrooke and Bishop’s, as well as their affiliated hospitals and research institutes. MSBi Capital maintains offices in Montreal, Québec, Canada. More information about MSBi is available at www.msbi.ca.
About McGill University
McGill University, located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, has an international reputation for scholarly achievement and scientific discovery. McGill's 22 faculties and professional schools offer more than 300 programs from the undergraduate to the doctoral level. McGill's professors have earned graduate degrees and completed their training in leading academic centers around the world. McGill leads Canadian universities in terms of research funding per full-time faculty member. McGill attracts top students from over 150 countries, creating one of the most dynamic and diverse student bodies in North America. For more information, visit www.mcgill.ca.
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Contacts:
CarboPur Technologies Inc.
Yves Sicard, CEO
Tel: (514) 798-0990
Ysicard@carbopur.ca
Ventures West Management Inc.
David Berkowitz
Senior Vice President
Tel: (604) 891-3266
Dberkowitz@ventureswest.com
MSBi Capital
Helene Jutras
Tel: (514) 982-9044
hjutras@msbi.ca
