Lehigh Technologies Inc., a leading sustainable materials company, has completed $16 million in financing, securing investments from top global venture capital firms, led by Leaf Clean Energy and including Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers, Index Ventures, and NGP Energy Technology Partners. The funding will go toward expanding the company's geographic reach and research and development initiatives – bolstering its ability to meet growing commercial demand for its micronized rubber powder (MRP) technology.
Lehigh Technologies' MRP technology transforms end-of-life tire and post-industrial rubber into new materials that are incorporated into high-performance tires, consumer and industrial plastics goods, asphalt and coatings and construction materials. Lehigh's MRPs are a lower cost, sustainable replacement for higher priced synthetic polymers and associated rubber compounds. The new MRP material helps Lehigh customers lower product costs and increase their sustainability profile while maintaining or improving product performance. Lehigh's customer base includes the largest tire companies in the world – over 140 million tires have been manufactured using Lehigh's MRP.
"Support from our financing partners enables our continued growth as we make major advancements in micronized rubber powder technology," said Lehigh Technologies CEO Dr. Alan Barton. "We are working with customers to support their use of MRP at increasingly higher levels as well as developing new end uses for this sustainable material. Our new funding will support our technology roadmap as well as facilitate expansion into new geographies."
"Our second investment in Lehigh Technologies is a testament to the company's ability to deliver technology-based innovation and create new market opportunities," said Ellen Pao of Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers and board member of Lehigh Technologies. "We believe Lehigh's approach breaks existing paradigms of how we perceive post-consumer and post-industrial materials, fundamentally changing how they can be used in the production of new products."
"A key element that motivates industrial customers to buy sustainable materials is to provide a solution that does not sacrifice quality, safety, cost, or performance of the end product," said Leaf Clean Energy Vice President Matthew Fedors. "Throughout its market segments, Lehigh's technology position allows the company to achieve this goal."
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