Mercia Fund Management announces BioExtractions Wales as its latest portfolio company
Henley-in-Arden, 19 May 2014. Mercia Fund Management (MFM), a leading provider of investment, incubator space and business support services for fast-growing technology companies, has announced investment in the world’s first and only contract extraction service that uses High Performance Counter Current Chromatography (HPCCC) to quickly isolate and extract high value synthetic and natural compounds from their supplied starting materials.
The funding will be used to purchase equipment, employ staff and finalise and meet an immediate market demand for its unique service provision.
BioExtractions Wales (BEW) provides its service to the pharmaceutical, chemical and related industries.
With a unique process developed using tailor-made equipment, BEW can isolate and extract high value synthetic and natural compounds from supplied starting materials. BioExtractions Wales is the first and only company to deliver a global contract extraction service using this highly specialised approach.
Kevin Stephens, CEO of BioExtractions Wales, commented on the market potential of this pioneering technique: “HPCCC enables us to isolate chemical compounds for commercial purposes to develop more efficient and effective extraction processes. Whilst liquid-liquid extraction as a means of isolating compounds is not a new concept, the innovative nature of the HPCCC device we use will solve vital issues that previous technologies failed to resolve.”
Kevin added: “Before HPCCC the most effective mechanism was High Speed Counter Current Chromatography (HSCCC), however, this process was extremely slow. HPCCC provides a practical solution for large scale operations reducing the original cycle time from hours to minutes.”
BioExtractions Wales has received a commitment of circa £400,000 of investment from Mercia Fund Management, founders and private investors to accelerate the businesses growth plans in Wales.
Mark Payton, Managing Director of Mercia Fund Management, commented on the deal: “The combination of the market opportunity, the technology readiness, modest capital needs, the highly qualified team and a building pipeline of orders makes this a truly exciting and relevant investment for us. The HPCCC technology supplied by the team is set to revolutionise extraction processes throughout a number of industries, and we are certain that BioExtractions Wales will be the driving force behind bringing this service to market. This is our second investment in Wales and is a great example where our legal (Mills & Reeve) and accountancy (James Cowpers) advisors worked efficiently and professionally to complete on this compelling business.”
Mercia Growth Fund 3 is the latest incarnation of the company’s EIS / SEIS hybrid fund due to close to private investors towards the end of May this year. The fund offers initial and follow-on funding to companies with a growing revenue base and highly scalable technology offering at their core with global applications. The tax efficient structure of the fund makes EIS and Seed EIS a compelling investment structure for private investors.
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