Capricorn Cleantech Fund Invests € 1.5 Million in Belgian solar energy (PV) start-up
Capricorn Cleantech Fund invests € 1.5 million in the first round financing of NovoPolymers NV, a Belgian cleantech start-up company in the photovoltaic area. Capricorn Venture Partners acts as co-lead alongside GIMV in this total capital round of € 3 million. These financial resources will allow NovoPolymers to start the production and commercialisation of its products.
Capricorn Venture Partners announces its investment in Belgium based NovoPolymers NV
NovoPolymers is a Flanders based company, fully dedicated to develop and produce transparent
polymer based films suitable for the encapsulation of photovoltaic cells into solar modules. To ensure
their long-term functionality and efficiency, solar cells must be embedded in one or more transparent
polymer layers at the time of the module assembly. Module producers are constantly on the outlook
for more durable, cheaper and more efficient encapsulation materials to reduce production cost and
increase solar panel efficiency and lifetime.
“We have developed a first product family (NovoVellum™) which is well accepted by potential users.
Our novel formulation allows us to bring cost-effective films to the market, whereas our most effective
films allow the module producer to reduce his assembly time by 25%. These advantages are very
significant in the current market environment where module makers are currently under pressure to
automate in order to reduce cost. Module makers need focused innovative suppliers who develop costeffective
transparent encapsulant films and who have R&D roadmaps leading to novel innovative
encapsulants” according to Johan Declerck, CEO NovoPolymers.
Within two years NovoPolymers expects to employ approximately 15 people. The headquarters,
including R&D and the first production site, are based in Aartselaar (Antwerp/Belgium). NovoPolymers
foresees a strong growth and envisages future production activities close to its customers abroad.
Paul Decraemer, Head Capricorn Cleantech Investment Practice states: “NovoPolymers could not start
at a better moment. It is now the right time to create a technology and production platform that will
be ready in time to cope with the next wave of growth in this sector, expected by the end of 2010.
We
have noticed that NovoPolymers keeps an eye on the total photovoltaic market and is developing
solutions for emerging photovoltaic technologies such as “Concentrator Photovoltaic” and “Organic
Photovoltaic”, next to their offering for traditional crystalline silicon and “thin film” solar technologies.
Hence I do believe that the strategy of NovoPolymers is sufficiently flexible to cope with the changing
photovoltaic landscape.”
