Cambridge University spin out Plastic Logic raises $300M for Russian factory

The Russian Corporation of Nanotechnologies (RUSNANO) has invested $150 million as part of a total $700 million package, to build a plant in Zelenograd, Russia, to manufacture plastic electronic displays developed by the Cambridge University spin out Plastic Logic.

Plastic Logic has received an initial investment package of $300 million, with RUSNANO investing $150 million and the company’s lead investor, Oak Investment Partners, a US venture capital firm, investing a further $50 million. In addition to the equity investments, RUSNANO will provide partial guarantees for debt financing of $100 million. Over the next few years, additional equity and debt will be raised totalling approximately $400 million.

“We evaluated multiple locations and potential partners across the globe for our second factory. We determined Russia with RUSNANO as an investment partner was the best fit for our business,” said Plastic Logic CEO Richard Archuleta.

“Plastic Logic is one of the most promising new technology companies in Silicon Valley,” said RUSNANO Managing Director Georgy Kolpachev. “This is an unprecedented investment of close to a billion dollars in the future of plastic electronics to help create one of the largest commercial centres for it in Russia. This investment signifies the potential that we see in the future of plastic electronics across a variety of commercial and consumer products. Flexible plastic electronic displays will provide another major milestone in how people process information. Entering this new disruptive segment at the stage of its inception gives Russia a chance to win a leading position in the global market of future electronics.”

The Zelenograd factory, which is due to start production in 2013/2014, will have the capacity to produce hundreds of thousands of units of next-generation plastic electronics displays per month. Plastic Logic said it plans to employ 300-plus at the facility. The company already has one production plant in Dresden in eastern Germany.

Zelenograd was a natural choice for the home of the company’s second and largest commercial plastic electronics display factory, according to Konrad Herre, Plastic Logic’s vice president for manufacturing, who led the site selection process. “Zelenograd is at the centre of the electronics, microelectronics and computer industry and is the equivalent of Silicon Valley in Russia,” he said. “[There is a] Special Economic Zone with an excellent infrastructure for high tech industry, and it is home to the Moscow Institute of Electronic Technology, which gives us access to a highly educated and trained workforce.”

At the same time, Plastic Logic said it plans to continue to invest in its facility in Dresden, Germany, which opened in 2008, as well as its technology R&D centre in Cambridge.

Plastic Logic was founded in 2000 by researchers at the Cambridge University Cavendish Laboratory.

RUSNANO was established in 2007 to foster the development of nanotechnology in Russia, with the aim of driving the Russian nanotech industry to the level of annual sales of 900 billion rubles by 2015. It does this by co-investing in nanotechnology projects that are likely to make a significant economic or social contribution, developing infrastructure and supports education for industry professionals.