Portfolio co Xeros completes ?10m funding round

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IP Group PLC

11 March 2013

 



 

FOR RELEASE ON

11 March 2013

IP Group plc -Portfolio company Xeros successfully completes £10m funding round

Environmentally friendly cleaning company raises finance

IP Group plc (LSE: IPO) ("IP Group" or "the Group"), the developer of intellectual property based businesses, is pleased to note that portfolio company Xeros Limited ("Xeros" or "the Company"), a spin-out company from the University of Leeds that has developed an entirely new clothes cleaning process, has successfully completed a £10 million fundraising from existing and new investors.

The funding will be used to accelerate the roll-out of the Xeros commercial laundry cleaning system and finalise the development of a household system to replace conventional washing machines.

Invesco Perpetual managed funds led the round, investing £6 million in Xeros. Shares in Xeros will be held in the Invesco Perpetual High Income Fund and the Invesco Perpetual Income Fund, which are managed by Neil Woodford, Head of UK Equities at Invesco Perpetual. Directors and existing investors in Xeros invested £4 million, including IP Group, Entrepreneurs Fund, Enterprise Ventures' RisingStars II Fund, Finance Yorkshire, and Parkwalk Advisors.

Following completion of the round, IP Group holds a direct beneficial stake of 14.8% in Xeros valued at £3.2m and the fundraising has resulted in a fair value gain of £0.9m. In addition to the Group's direct beneficial holding, a further 8.3% interest is held by IP Venture Fund.

Xeros cleans clothes with very little water and Xeros polymer beads. The patented cleaning system comprises a special washing machine designed to release the beads into the drum for cleaning, and remove the beads from the clothes once the cleaning is complete. Up to 80% less water, 50% less energy and 50% less detergent is used in the Xeros system versus conventional washing, yet Xeros delivers superior cleaning results.

The $100 billion global laundry industry is the initial market for the Xeros polymer bead cleaning system. The technology was launched into the commercial laundry market in late 2012 with successful affirmation sites at Jeeves of Belgravia (London) and Watford launderers + cleaners, followed by installations in North America at Sterling Linen Services (New Hampshire), Hyatt Regency Reston (Virginia) and Crest Dry Cleaners (Virginia).

Domestic washing machines consume approximately 50 litres of water per wash. On average, washer/dryer systems account for 13 per cent of household energy use. If all UK households were fitted with machines powered by Xeros technology, the potential savings to UK consumers would total more than £2 billion per annum. It would also represent a net reduction of 4.2 million tonnes of CO2 per annum, the equivalent of taking 1.4 million cars off UK roads.

Alan Aubrey, Chief Executive of IP Group, said: "It is really encouraging to see Xeros receive such strong support and endorsement from both existing and new investors. Having backed Xeros from research out of the University of Leeds and supported it since then, it is exciting to see the business maturing and commencing roll-out."

Bill Westwater, Chief Executive Officer of Xeros, said: "We have a big but simple idea: to convert the traditional world of aqueous washing to Xeros bead cleaning. Our superior cleaning method delivers a whole variety of benefits to people, businesses and the environment. This fundraise represents another milestone in our journey towards making that idea a reality."

For more information, please contact:

IP Group plc	www.ipgroupplc.com
Alan Aubrey, Chief Executive Officer	[phone]
Liz Vaughan-Adams, Communications	[phone] / [phone] [e-mail]
FTI Consulting (for IP Group)
Ben  Atwell, John Dineen	[phone]
Grayling (for Xeros)
Michael Saxton/Rafal Kwiatkowski	[phone]/[phone] [e-mail] [e-mail]

Notes for editors

About IP Group

IP Group is a leading UK intellectual property ("IP") commercialisation company, developing technology innovations primarily from its research intensive partner universities. The Group offers more than traditional venture capital, providing its companies with access to business building expertise, networks, recruitment and business support.

The Company's portfolio comprises holdings in over 60 companies including Oxford Nanopore Technologies, the DNA sequencing development company, Revolymer, best known for its removable chewing gum and Xeros, which has received many accolades for its revolutionary clothes washing techniques with a much reduced requirement for water.

The portfolio includes early stage to mature businesses and has exposure to five main sectors - Energy & Renewables, Medical Equipment & Supplies, Pharma & Biotech, IT & Communications and Chemicals & Materials. To date, fifteen of the portfolio companies IP Group has backed have listed on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange and one on ISDX.

Founded in 2001, IP Group listed on AIM in October 2003 and moved to the Official List in June 2006.

For more information, please visit our website at www.ipgroupplc.com.

About Xeros

Located at the Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP) in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, Xeros has developed a globally relevant environmentally-friendly cleaning technology, which originally came out of pioneering work by the University of Leeds. Xeros has now raised over £16 million in funding from private investment and government R&D grants to commercialise the technology.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg described Xeros as 'a great example of how going green is good for

our economy' during a visit to the firm in September 2012. Xeros was listed 2^nd in the top 50 "2010 Best Inventions" by TIME magazine; winner of 'Best Technological Breakthrough' in The Climate Week Awards 2011; listed in WWF's survey of global "Green Game-Changers"; selected as one of only 19 best fast-growing "Clean & Cool" companies to go on a government sponsored mission to Silicon Valley (February, 2010); and named winner of the Rushlight Sustainable Manufacturing & Services Award and the winner of the Rushlight Environmental Management Award in January 2013.

www.xeroscleaning.com

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