Singapore & Tokyo, 21 January 2011 - Tera-Barrier Films Pte Ltd (Tera-Barrier Films) today announced that KISCO LTD. has made a strategic investment in the company's Series "A" Investment round and became the company's Exclusive Distributor for Asia Pacific. Tera-Barrier Films is a portfolio company of Exploit Technologies Pte Ltd (ETPL), the commercialization arm of Singapore's Agency for Science, Technology and Research (ASTAR) and Applied Ventures, LLC, the venture capital arm of Applied Materials, Inc.
"We have been working with Tera-Barrier Films since before it spun-off from ASTAR, and continued to monitor its progress in bringing its barrier technology to the market. We are very impressed by the achievements that Tera-Barrier Films has made in such a short time, and believe that it is a good time for us to invest in the company and be part of its growth," said Koichi Takeda, director of KISCO's Electronic Materials Division.
The funds will allow the company to continue its efforts to commercialise its proprietary, moisture resistant films for extending the lifetime of devices such as organic solar cells and flexible displays.
"This investment and distribution agreement with KISCO is a testament of the confidence KISCO has in Tera-Barrier," commented Mark Auch, CEO of Tera-Barrier Films. "Our immediate goal is to deliver our products to customers so they can begin extensive testing and validation and eventually incorporate them in their production lines. We also expect to initiate large scale manufacturing in the near future as we project market demand to grow extensively in the next 3 to 5 years."
"We have evaluated Tera-Barrier's products and we know they have a very interesting technology," noted Masayuki Nakazawa, Managing Director of KISCO (ASIA) PTE LTD "Based on our preliminary feedback from potential customers, there is keen interest in these products from high tech manufacturers in the Asia Pacific region, so the distribution agreement is a win-win for both KISCO and Tera-Barrier."
"This is indeed an important milestone for Tera-Barrier Films. This investment from KISCO is significant and we are pleased in KISCO's participation as not only a financial but also a strategic partner in Tera-Barrier Films. This will no doubt propel the young company to the next stage of growth. This is yet another testimony of the quality of ASTAR spin-offs," said Philip Lim, CEO of Exploit Technologies Pte Ltd.
"Since its launch from IMRE in 2009, Tera-Barrier Films has grown steadily, with additional partners coming on board to endorse its unique technology. This is a testament to the exceptional research and entrepreneurial spirit of Singapore scientists," added Andy Hor, Executive Director of ASTAR's Institute of Materials Research and Engineering (IMRE) from where Tera-Barrier Films spun-off. The company is currently located in IMRE under a special lab-in-a-research institute arrangement, enabling Tera-Barrier Film's R&D work to continue unabated.
J Christopher Moran, Vice President and General Manager of Applied Ventures, additionally commented, "We are pleased to have KISCO join us as investors in Tera-Barrier Films and look forward to the commercialisation of Tera-Barrier's high performance barrier films. As OLED displays, solar photovoltaics, and other flexible electronics gain in popularity, we believe that barrier and encapsulation technology will become increasingly critical. Applied Ventures is committed to investing in and furthering the development of breakthrough technologies that will enable these industries to improve device performance while reducing costs."
Tera-Barrier Film's barrier technology, which was developed by one of the founders, Senthil Ramadas, protects the easily-degraded, moisture-sensitive, organic materials of plastic devices and targets the burgeoning flexible electronics industry. Applications of the film include the manufacturing of flexible, lightweight and inexpensive electronics such as disposable or wrap-around displays, identification tags, flexible solar cells and chemical- and optical sensors.
