Press

Compositence GmbH Secures Further Growth Through Capital Increase

April 29, 2013

Compositence GmbH, specializing in solutions for cost-effective serial production using carbon and glass fibers, has acquired an increase in capital. The company has gained Zukunftsfonds Heilbronn as a new lead investor; the holding company Mittelständische Beteiligungsgesellschaft Baden-Württemberg (MGB) and venture capitalist High-Tech Gründerfonds are contributing further capital.

The innovation of Compositence is a production process with which components made of high-performance fibers such as carbon can be produced with automation and very little cutting scrap.

Since intermediate steps typical in today’s production techniques are omitted, Compositence’s customers can kill two birds with one stone. First, manufacturing costs are reduced since the most economical raw material is used directly and production is fully automated and low in scrap. Second, carbon components become even lighter, since the fibers are placed exactly in the orientation required and only where they are really needed.

Typical applications include load-bearing planar components such as auto body parts, rotor blades in wind turbines, or components used in industry or mechanical engineering.

The advantages of the Compositence process also make carbon an interesting material for new use in applications where other materials have previously been utilized.

In addition to offering structural/mechanical and economic advantages, the process results in very appealing surfaces with light striation. Working with the famous designer Oskar Zieta, Compositence even showed a table top made of carbon at the Milan Furniture Fair in April, attracting much attention.

Compositence gains a prominent figure in mechanical and plant engineering for its Advisory Board with Dr. Peter Drexel

Compositence GmbH has gained an Advisory Board chaired by the CEO of Zukunftsfonds Heilbronn, Thomas R. Villinger, and including Benjamin Erhart, Investment Manager at High-Tech Gründerfonds, and Dr. Ing. E. h. Peter Drexel.

In his career, Dr. Drexel has made mechanical and plant engineering companies into market leaders based on technological innovations a number of times as CEO. He has worked primarily at Bosch and Siemens, where he was most recently a Board member in the Automation & Drives Division.

“We are very happy to have Dr. Drexel as a very experienced sparring partner and Advisory Board member and Zukunftsfonds Heilbronn as a further strong, regionally anchored partner for our continued growth. Further, we are very glad that MGB and High-Tech Gründerfonds have again shown their trust in us and contributed significantly to the capital increase,” says Gregor Weber of Finance.

About Zukunftsfonds Heilbronn
Zukunftsfonds Heilbronn supports the development of young technology companies from the innovative idea up to their successful establishment in areas such as energy and environment, medical technology, electronics, and automation. We see ourselves as a long-term partner in dialogue that supports companies with capital, the industrial network of the economically growing region of Heilbronn-Franken, and the know-how of the ZFHN management.

The proof of concept should already be established, and the unique selling proposition and customer benefit should be formulated clearly. An objective evaluation of the competitive situation in a clearly defined growth market by a competent management team also provides reasons for the company’s chances of growing.

As one of the largest venture capital firms in Germany with fund assets in the triple digit millions of euros and 16 shareholdings, we primarily act as the lead investor in the startup and expansion phase in the range of €0.5 – 15.0 million. Zukunftsfonds Heilbronn is completely privately financed, ensuring solid mid- to long-term interest.

Contact:
zfhn Zukunftsfonds Heilbronn GmbH und Co. KG
Alfred Victor
BD Manager
Edisonstraße 19
74076 Heilbronn
Tel.: 07131 873183-16
av@zf-hn.de
www.zf-hn.de

About MBG Mittelständische Beteiligungsgesellschaft Baden-Württemberg GmbH
MBG invests in small and medium sized companies across different industries headquartered in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The amounts invested range from €25,000 up to €2.5 million. MBG offers everything from seed investments and start-up financing to growth financing for established companies.

MBG is a publicly funded holding company. It works closely with the guarantor bank Bürgschaftsbank Baden-Württemberg GmbH and is supported by the State of Baden-Württemberg and by the German Federal Government.

Contact:
MBG Mittelständische Beteiligungsgesellschaft Baden-Württemberg GmbH
Florentin Walker
Investment Manager
Werastraße 15-17
70182 Stuttgart
Tel.: +49 0711 1645-772
florentin.walker@mbg.de
www.mbg.de

About Compositence
Compositence GmbH has existed since 2008 and is located in Leonberg near Stuttgart. Founders Ingo Karb and Volker Witzel had previously built up the leading textile technical center for lightweight fiber composite structures at the Institute of Aircraft Design at the University of Stuttgart under the direction of Professor Klaus Drechsler. During this time, they conducted research in the area of layout and automated production of fiber composite structures, thereby conducting projects in nearly all industrial sectors in which components made from carbon fibers are utilized today. At Compositence GmbH the first components were designed for automated production in high quantities and the start of serial production was accompanied.

Since 2009 Compositence has used a fundamental process innovation to develop and market new production processes for the automated production of planar components in high quantities. The Compositence process allows for a significant improvement in the cost-effectiveness of manufacturing components from carbon fibers (in preforming) while skillfully exploiting the potential of lightweight construction: Components are cheaper and lighter with the same qualities than they are with traditional production techniques.

Compositence GmbH offers production equipment, software, and prototype production (preforming).

Contact:
Compositence GmbH
Mollenbachstr. 25
71229 Leonberg
+49 7152-56901-10
PR@compositence.de
www.compositence.de

About High-Tech Gründerfonds
High-Tech Gründerfonds invests risk capital in young, high-opportunity technology companies that turn promising research results into business ideas. The seed financing is to help the startups develop their R&D projects further to the creation of a prototype or proof of concept, or on to market introduction. The funding share is initially €500,000; up to a total of €2 million is available per company. Investors in the public-private partnership include the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology, the KfW Banking Group, and 17 industrial companies: 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 Gründerfonds has total available funds of €573.5 million (€272 million in Fund I and €301.5 million in Fund II).

Contact:
High-Tech Gründerfonds Management GmbH
Benjamin Erhart
Investment Manager
Schlegelstraße 2
53113 Bonn
Tel.:    +49 228 82300-114
b.erhart@high-tech-gruenderfonds.de
www.high-tech-gruenderfonds.de

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