Press Release Vantaa, Finland, 15.8.2007
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Danish venture capital investor Via Venture Partners has together with Finnish Inventure Oy and other earlier investors invested EUR 3 million in nanotechnology equipment supplier Beneq (www.beneq.com).
Beneq’s main products include equipment and technology for nHALOTM (Hot Aerosol Layering Operation) and ALD (Atomic Layer Deposition). nHALOTM is a flame spray technology, used mainly for applying functional coatings on glass and ceramic tiles as well as for nanoparticle synthesis. ALD technology is a thin film coating method which was first developed in Finland and widely used in the semiconductor industry. ALD systems are used to produce accurate, pinhole-free and conformal thin-film coatings on various substrates. Beneq focuses on delivering new industrial applications utilizing ALD technology.
Beneq has recently launched new industrial applications and entered into significant customer contracts including several industrial equipment deliveries. With the new investment round Beneq will speed up international growth and strengthen its organization.
“The financing deal with Via Venture Partners enables us to continue the fast development and international growth of Beneq”, says Sampo Ahonen, CEO and one of the founding shareholders of Beneq. “We have chosen Via as a venture capital partner because they have strong know how and resources for investing in technology growth companies. We also appreciate that Inventure together with other earlier investors participate in this second round and the good cooperation and board function with them will continue.”
“Beneq has exceptional skills in turning new functional coating inventions into working equipment for manufacturing. We see a strong growth in functional coating and our ambition is to build a world leading equipment manufacturer, tells Peter Thorlund Haahr, from Via Venture Partners and new member of the board of Beneq.
“We are very pleased with Beneq’s performance during the past year since our initial investment. The company has managed to penetrate the market with their products and technology exceptionally well. The new financing round together with an international investor supports the company’s chosen internalization strategy.”, says Timo Tirkkonen, partner at Inventure.
Beneq Oy, Vantaa, Finland, is a supplier of industrial equipment for global markets. Beneq is addressing the market of industrial equipment for producing functional surfaces with the latest technology, typically utilizing nanosize materials. Beneq acts as a business facilitator adding value for high-tech partner companies by converting proven innovations into industrial equipment. Beneq was founded 2005, employs 21 persons and currently operates in Vantaa.
Inventure is one of the most active and experienced early growth stage investors in Finland. Inventure manages and develops a portfolio of 15 technology companies, including international expansion companies such as MySQL, Silex Microsystems, Fastrax and Xelerated as well as early-stage investments such as Beneq, Trackway, Pancomp, Zipic and Upstream.
Via Venture Partners, established early 2006, is a multistage venture investor in the Nordic market to ICT growth companies. With EUR 134 million under management Via Venture Partners is one of the biggest Nordic players in the ICT segment. The main part of Via Venture Partners Fond I K/S's EUR 134 million equity is contributed by ATP (Denmark’s largest pension scheme), while the remaining derives from issue of employee shares. Via Venture Partners has great focus and know how on all aspects of Nordic companies venturing into international business.
Additional information:
CEO, Sampo Ahonen, Beneq Oy,
mobile +35840 520 1090,
sampo.ahonen@beneq.com
www.beneq.com
Partner Peter Thorlund Haahr, Via Venture Partners A/S
mobile +45 28 10 17 95,
pth@viaventurepartners.com
www.viaventurepartners.com
Partner Timo Tirkkonen, Inventure Oy,
mobile +35840 575 1553,
timo.tirkkonen@inventure.fi
www.inventure.fi