Durham spinout Applied Graphene Materials raises $12m to scale up its manufacturing capacity.
Applied Graphene Materials (AGM), a UK-based Durham University spinout, has raised £8.1m ($12m) through a placing of approximately 4.6 million new ordinary shares prices at £1.75 each.
The company has also announced an open offer to raise an additional £2m.
AGM has developed a process to create a carbon material known as graphene that is 100 times stronger than steel. The product is an efficient conductor of heat and electricity despite being incredibly thin.
Graphene has many uses in fields such as semiconductors, electronics and energy storage.
The funding will be used to scale up manufacturing capacity and support collaborative projects.
In 2013, AGM floated on the Alternative Investment Market where its initial share price of £1.55 per share rose to £2.16 in the first day of trading. This valued the company, at the time, at more than £36m. In 2014, its first post-floating results showed a $4.22m pre-tax loss.
AGM’s backers include intellectual property investor IP Group, which owns a 20.3% stake in the company as of June 30 2015, and Finance for Business North East, financed by the European Regional Development Fund and European Investment Bank.
Jon Mabbitt, chief executive of Applied Graphene Materials, said: “This fundraising is another significant step forward in the development of the company and follows a period of strong progress for the business during which time Applied Graphene Materials has developed its commercial platform around its proprietary manufacturing process and graphene formulation know-how.”
