Capital for Recycling of High-Tech Composite Materials

saperatec GmbH, an independent recycling specialist for all types of high-tech com-posite materials, is receiving seed financing in the amount of 3.3 million € from an investor consortium consisting of eCapital entrepreneurial Partners AG, the NRW.BANK, the Business Angel Oliver F. Gosemann as well as the investors of the first round Gründerfonds Bielefeld-Ostwestfalen and the High-Tech Gründerfonds. Amongst other things, the company will use the financial means to build a modular large demonstration plant its Bielefeld site.

Plastic-plastic or plastic-metal as well as other composites are manufactured in large amounts today and are used in many products, from simple everyday packaging to high-tech products such as lithium-ion batteries or photovoltaic modules. In many cases, there is still no cost-effective way to reclaim these materials, so that large amounts of valuable synthetic materials or rare compounds are lost (e.g., in landfills) or are reused in a highly inefficient manner (e.g., to create energy by incineration).

With the patented procedures developed by saperatec, low-value composites can be separated into high-value individual materials of high purity with a very high degree of effectiveness. Since the procedure is done at room temperature and does not require the use of aggressive chemicals, it is environmentally friendly and easy to use.

Dr. Sebastian Kernbaum, founder and managing partner of saperatec, is enthusiastic. „This consortium of experienced investors and an industry-savvy Business Angel strengthens our resolve! The financing round allows us to take the step from pilot op-eration to industrialization and to drive our international marketing strategy.“

Dr. Michael Lübbehusen, managing partner at eCapital, adds: „This elegant procedure that has received many awards has a very broad application potential with a very evident customer benefit. It has disruptive potential within the recycling industry.“

Dr. Peter Güllmann, business unit manager for corporate financing at NRW.BANK, has known saperatec for some time. „Through our participation in the Gründerfonds-Bielefeld Ostwestfalen, we recognized the potential of saperatec early on. We are all the more pleased that we can now support the company into the next growth phase.“

„We are delighted that we were able to win over this group of experienced investors together with the team in order to finance the future growth of saperatec“, says Ron Winkler, investment manager at High-Tech Gründerfonds.

About saperatec GmbH
saperatec GmbH, located in Bielefeld, develops and markets an innovative technology for the separation of composite materials. Essentially, surfactants are used that reduce the interfacial tensions between adhesions and coatings, thus bringing about separation. The separation makes it possible to access materials in products that were previously impossible to recycle and at the same time win back valuable resources that would otherwise be lost. The area of application ranges from relatively simple plastic-plastic composites to complex technical products such as photovoltaic modules. At its location in Bielefeld, the company is operating a pilot production plant for re-claiming semiconductor coatings from photovoltaic modules. This plant is currently being expanded to allow for a wider range of applications and increased throughput. Furthermore, international marketing of the technology is being promoted. Please visit www.saperatec.de for more information.

About Gründerfonds Bielefeld-Ostwestfalen
Consisting of NRW.BANK, the Sparkasse banks in Bielefeld, Detmold and Herford as well as a large number of renowned entrepreneurs from Ostwestfalen / Lippe as fund investors, the Gründerfonds Bielefeld-Ostwestfalen invests in young, high growth companies from the Ostwestfalen-Lippe region. Approximately 10 million Euro are available to be invested over the next years. Amongst others, investments focus on mechanical engineering, process and automation technology, IT, communications and nano-technology, material sciences, life sciences and biotechnology. Please visit www.gruenderfonds-bow.de for more information.

About eCAPITAL entrepreneurial Partners AG
eCAPITAL entrepreneurial Partners AG is a venture capital company based in Münster, and has been actively investing in innovative entrepreneurs in promising industries since 1999. The focus lies on rapidly growing companies in sectors such as renewable energies, renewable raw materials, resource-saving processes, water technologies as well as process engineering/new materials and IT. eCAPITAL is currently administering five funds with a subscribed capital of over 120 million EUR and is investing across Germany in companies in the early and late stage phase, as well as in „small SMEs“. Please visit www.ecapital.de for more information.

About NRW.BANK
NRW.BANK is the development bank for the state of North Rhine Westphalia. Through its venture capital fund, NRW.BANK invests risk capital in the early phase and growth phase of technology-oriented companies. Their target group is young and innovative start-ups with a clear competitive advantage in a large market. Furthermore, participations in various seed and venture capital funds are held to support technology-based start-ups. Please visit www.nrwbank.de for more information.

About High-Tech Gründerfonds
High-Tech Gruenderfonds invests in young, high potential high-tech start-ups. The seed financing provided is designed to enable start-ups to take an idea through prototyping and to market launch. Typically, High-Tech Gruenderfonds invests EUR 500,000 in the seed stage, with the potential for up to a total of EUR 2 million per portfolio company in follow-on financing. Investors in this public/private partnership include the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology, the KfW Banking Group, as well as strategic corporate investors including ALTANA, BASF, B. Braun, Robert Bosch, CEWE Color, Daimler, Deutsche Post DHL, Deutsche Telekom, Evonik, Lanxess, media + more venture Beteiligungs GmbH & Co. KG, METRO, Qiagen, RWE Innogy, SAP, Tengelmann and Carl Zeiss. High-Tech Gruenderfonds has about EUR 573,5 million under management in two funds (EUR 272 million HTGF I, EUR 301,5 million HTGF II). Please visit www.high-tech-gruenderfonds.de for more information.

Consultants of this financing round
Rödl&Partner, Nuremberg
Ebner Stolz Mönning Bachem, Stuttgart
24IP Law Group Sonnenberg Fortmann, Munich
Heuking Kühn Lüer Wojtek, Cologne

Contacts:
Dr. Sebastian Kernbaum
saperatec GmbH
Ernst-Graebe-Str. 10
33611 Bielefeld
Phone: +49 (0)521 5240-325
Fax: +49 (0)521 5240-381
Email: skernbaum@saperatec.de
Internet: www.saperatec.de

Dr. Michael Lübbehusen
eCAPITAL entrepreneurial Partners AG
Hafenweg 24
48155 Münster
Phone: +49 (0)251 703767-0
Fax :  +49 (0)251 703767-22
Email:  info@ecapital.de
Internet: www.ecapital.de

Peter Hillebrandt
NRW. BANK
Kavalleriestraße 22
40213 Düsseldorf
Phone: +49 (0)211 91741 5062
Fax:  +49 (0)211 91741 1829
Email:  peter.hillebrandt@nrwbank.de
Internet www.nrwbank.de

Ron Winkler
High-Tech Gründerfonds Management GmbH
Schlegelstraße 2
53113 Bonn
Phone: +49 (0)228 823001-00
Fax:   +49 (0)228 823000-50
Email:  r.winkler@htgf.de
Internet:  www.high-tech-gruenderfonds.de