BOARDROOM
EIB backs fast-track cancer breakthrough with €20mn loan
The European Investment Bank has agreed a €20mn venture debt agreement with Dutch life sciences firm Lumicks to support development of a new product to optimise cancer therapy. The product is a high-throughput cell avidity platform, which will be used to identify the cell that recognises, binds to and attacks tumors, offering hope for faster and more effective drug development. The investment, supported by the European Commission’s InvestEU initiative, will be used to support product development. Since 2013, Lumicks has grown into a global company of 170 employees, and has ambitions to impact more than one million lives by 2027.
Sistema.bio raises $15mn for biogas innovation
Kenyan biogas firm Sistema.bio has announced a successful raise of $15mn. Sistema works with farmers across three continents to convert animal waste into biogas, which is used for cooking, heating and electricity generation – while also producing a biofertilizer. To date, the company has worked with over 100,000 farms and influenced an annual carbon reduction of one million tonnes. This latest injection of capital will be used to support further expansion into markets in Asia, Africa and Latin America, with the goal of reaching one million farmers by 2025.
Molg secures $5.5mn seed fund for electronics circular economy solution
Virginia-based Molg has announced the close of $5.5mn in seed funding as it looks to scale its robotics-based process for the electronics circular economy. Using robotic “microfactories”, Molg’s tech can disassemble electronic products, removing components for re-use or recycling – an issue of critical importance as millions of tonnes of electronics are discarded every year. Only 22.3% of such components were recycled in 2022, according to the UN Global E-waste monitor. The company plans to use the money to scale up manufacturing at their key site in Northern Virginia to meet growing demand for the product.
Hometree lands £50mn deal for household decarbonisation
UK-based energy company Hometree has secured £50mn in a mezzanine debt facility from Canadian pension fund CPPIB. This follows an earlier loan of £250mn from Barclays, and will finance up to 35,000 solar panel systems, batteries and heat pumps. As energy bills continue to rise in the UK, Hometree provides affordable finance options for households around the country looking to decarbonise their energy systems. Since its creation in 2016, the company has set the ambitious goal of decarbonising more than one million homes by 2030 and attracted a number of key investors including Legal and General and Energy Impact Partners.
