The Engineer

RUSNANO investment to fund Plastic Logic display factory

News

The Russian Corporation of Nanotechnologies (RUSNANO) is to invest millions of dollars in Cambridge University spin-out Plastic Logic.

The investment will help the company build a high-volume production factory for its plastic displays in Zelenograd, Russia.

RUSNANO is providing an initial equity investment of $150m (£94m) into Plastic Logic, while Plastic Logic’s lead investor, Oak Investment Partners, is investing an additional $50m. In addition to the equity investments, RUSNANO will provide partial guarantees for $100m of debt financing.

Over the next few years, Plastic Logic says that it will raise an additional $400m in both equity and debt financing.

’We evaluated multiple locations and potential partners across the globe for our second factory. We determined that Russia was the best fit for our business,’ said Plastic Logic chief executive Richard Archuleta. We are gratified by the RUSNANO investment package and the continued commitment of Oak Investment Partners in bringing this disruptive technology to market.’

The Zelenograd factory, scheduled for production starting in 2013/2014, will have the capacity to produce hundreds of thousands of units of plastic electronic displays per month. Plastic Logic said it plans to employ 300-plus at the facility.

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 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. Zelenograd has invested in the development of a Special Economic Zone with an excellent infrastructure for high-tech industry and is home to the Moscow Institute of Electronic Technology (MIET), which gives us access to a highly educated and trained workforce.’

At the same time, Plastic Logic plans to continue to invest in its first high-volume manufacturing facility in Dresden, Germany, which opened in 2008, as well as its technology research and development centre in Cambridge.