FIDURA Private Equity Fonds a new lead investor at m2p-labs

Investment in leading manufacturer of microbioreactors

Founded in 2005, m2p-labs GmbH successfully closed its financing round with FIDURA Private Equity Fonds as a new lead investor. Through a capital increase with the participation of seed investors such as the High-Tech-Gründerfonds as the biggest co-investor, FIDURA-Fonds acquired a total stake of 27.61% of m2p-labs GmbH. Their unique technology, a portfolio of renowned international customers as well as the strong growth potential of the company were key criteria for FIDURA-Fonds in opting to invest in the company.

m2p-labs GmbH, based in Baesweiler near Aachen, is a leading global manufacturer of microbioreactors. The company is engaged in the development and sales of lab analysis systems (microbioreactors) to carry out what are known as high throughput test series in the field of cellular screening and bioprocess development. “m2p” stands for “from microreactor to process”.

Using optical measuring technology combined with miniaturization and intelligent analysis methods, the company was able to create an innovative system (BioLector^® technology) that provides the user with important information in a non-invasive way and with online monitoring during the process of fermentation (biomass, product concentration, fluorescence as well as pH-value and dissolved oxygen); this information is provided already at a very early stage of development in microscale and thus significantly reduces the use of large laboratory fermenters. In addition, the patented BioLector^® technology allows relevant process-related parameters (e.g. oxygen mass transfer, mixing time) to be set precisely, also in microscale, facilitating later scale-up. The technology is suitable for diverse screening tasks such as strain selection, promoter characterization, optimization of culture media and bioprocess development. Because relevant process information is received quickly while at the same time high-throughput is possible (high-content screening), different clones, media and process conditions can easily be tested in parallel – the user is thus able to efficiently develop a multitude of bioprocesses and products in a much shorter time to market.

The company is serving the fast growing bioeconomy with its platform technology. Thus, m2p-labs is specifically targeting customers from the pharmaceutical, chemical and biotechnological industries who wish to organize their screening and their biotechnological processes more efficiently and to automate them further. Fields of application include cellular and microbial screening, synthetic and systems biology, proteomics (high throughput protein expression), optimization of fermentation and characterization of aerobic and anaearobic bioprocesses. The technology of m2p-labs is available to the customer as an instrument system with analysis software for in-house use. In addition, the company generates ongoing revenues by selling unique and patented disposable microplates (FlowerPlate^®) for use in their systems.

Since its foundation, m2p-labs has continuously pursued a growth course and has been able to establish itself in a variety of market sectors based on its unique patented products. Renowned pharmaceutical and chemical companies and well-known universities (ETH Zürich, RWTH Aachen, University College London and Imperial College London) and research institutions such as the Jülich Research Centre, to name but a few, can be found on the list of m2p-labs customers.

With the capital invested by FIDURA-Fonds, the company wants to further expand its technological edge with new developments and product improvements, particularly in the field of microscale process control (fed-batch and pH control) and automation of the BioLector^® technology. Further, the company would like to increase its global sales network, especially in the USA and Asia.

About m2p-labs GmbH
m2p-labs is a worldwide leading supplier of microbioreactors. Based in Baesweiler near Aachen (Germany), the company was founded in November 2005. The company focuses on microreaction and automated solutions for screening and bioprocess development. Commercialized products are the BioLector^® and the FlowerPlate^® which provide an intelligent micro fermentation platform. This technology empowers the biotechnology, chemical and pharmaceutical industry to increase their number and information of microbial and cell culture experiments. It enables our customers to conduct experiments with greater efficiency, better quality and lower cost than in any other cultivation platform. More knowledge from small scale leads to more rational and reliable decisions in the development of bioprocesses. The company continues to develop its technology towards controlled microbioreactors and further automation of the whole bioprocess. www.m2p-labs.com

Contact:
Dr. Frank Kensy
m2p-labs GmbH
Arnold-Sommerfeld-Ring 2
52499 Baesweiler
Germany
Phone: +49-(0)2401-805-331
public@m2p-labs.com

About FIDURA Private Equity Fonds
FIDURA was established in 2001 by experienced entrepreneurs and capital market specialists as an independent consultant and underwriter of private equity. With an investment concept taking into account the special need for security of normal investors and an investment approach geared to the utmost security, FIDURA has deliberately struck out in a new direction. The vision is both to provide access to private equity to normal investors and to medium-sized companies seeking capital. As a lender of capital, a coach and sparring partner, the experienced management of FIDURA accompanies small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with revenues above 1 million euros in the implementation of their growth plans. With the four funds set up to date, the issuing house has been able to place a total volume of approx. 110 million euros with more than 4000 investors to date. FIDURA is therefore one of the leading providers of direct-investing, closed-end private equity retail funds in Germany. www.fidura.de

Contact:
FIDURA Private Equity Fonds
Dipl.- Ing. Ingrid Weil
Bavariaring 44
80336 München
Germany
Phone: +49-(0)89-23 88 98-15
presse@fidura.de

About High-Tech Gruenderfonds
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).

Contact:
High-Tech Gründerfonds Management GmbH
Schlegelstraße 2
53113 Bonn
Marco Winzer
Investment Director
Phone: +49 (228) 823 001-00
Fax: +49 228 823 000-50
m.winzer@high-tech-gruenderfonds.de
www.high-tech-gruenderfonds.de