Pangaea Ventures Closes Fund II

Pangaea Ventures Ltd., a Vancouver-based firm focused on the cleantech and advanced materials sectors, has closed its second fund with US$32 million in capital commitments. Limited partners include Asahi Glass, Umicore and Bekaert.

PRESS RELEASE

Pangaea Ventures Ltd. announced today that Asahi Glass, Umicore and Bekaert have invested in Pangaea Ventures Fund II, LP. These strategic Limited Partners join existing strategic investors BASF Venture Capital, Solvay, Ciba Specialty Chemicals and Toyota Tsusho America. The fund is focused on cleantech and advanced materials and has closed with US$32 million in commitments.

Chris Erickson, Principal of Pangaea Ventures, stated, “Pangaea Ventures is very pleased to have Asahi Glass, Umicore and Bekaert join the fund. With our focus on early-stage cleantech and advanced materials, we believe it is invaluable to have the support of these global market leaders.”

Purnesh Seegopaul, Principal of Pangaea Ventures, added, “It's exciting to partner with these leading corporations as we work alongside companies delivering innovative solutions that facilitate the growth of the cleantech and advanced materials markets.”

Hiroyuki Watanabe (General Manager, Technology Planning at Asahi), Marcel Meeus (Senior Manager Technology Scouting at Umicore) and Frans Van Giel (Vice President, Business Development at Bekaert) have joined Pangaea's advisory board.

Pangaea Ventures Fund II, LP has made four investments to date including, Cyrium Technologies Incorporated, Kovio, Inc., Switch Materials Inc. and CNano Technology Limited.

About Pangaea Ventures

Pangaea Ventures invests in early-stage cleantech and advanced material companies. It believes that breakthroughs in advanced materials are critical for the continued growth of clean technology and many other large markets. With offices in Vancouver and New Jersey, Pangaea Ventures invests across the United States and Canada out of its first two funds.

About Asahi Glass

Asahi Glass (www.agc.co.jp) has been in business for over 100 years and has a core focus on the glass, display glass, chemical and electronics & energy markets. It is based in Japan and operates world wide. The vision of the company is “Look Beyond” to make the world a brighter place. Asahi has a venture capital group that is pursuing opportunities in cleantech and advanced materials and has over 49,000 employees with annual revenue of over $14 billion.

About Umicore

Umicore (www.umicore.com) is a materials technology group. Its activities are centered on four business areas: Advanced Materials, Precious Metals Products and Catalysts, Precious Metals Services and Zinc Specialties. Each business area is divided into market-focused business units. Umicore focuses on application areas where it knows its expertise in materials science, chemistry and metallurgy can make a real difference, Umicore generates approximately 50% of its revenues and spends approximately 80% of its R&D budget in the area of clean technology, such as emission control catalysts, materials for rechargeable batteries and photovoltaics, fuel cells, and precious metals recycling. Umicore's overriding goal of sustainable value creation is based on this ambition to develop, produce and recycle materials in a way that fulfils its mission: materials for a better life. The Umicore Group has industrial operations on all continents and serves a global customer base; it generated a turnover of